Learning to let go and disconnecting the leadership programming learned from previous bosses.

Designing your own leadership attributes to become the exceptional leader you aspire to be.

I bet when you applied for that promotion, you were excited and felt you could do this standing on your head.

And now, here you are doing the role, and you’re wondering why it’s harder than you expected.

The work you are the expert at, which was part of your previous role is most likely not part of your role now.

A leadership role requires more ‘thinking’ than the ‘doing’-type work you are used to.

When your head is down in the doing, you aren’t looking up with a future focus or doing the high-value work appropriate for your new senior level.

What you are being paid to do now differs from what you did in your old role.

That’s the thing about leading. The person you were in your old technical role must morph into another style of person. You must approach things differently to lead the team well so that you’re all performing at the right level.

This is about letting go of what you used to do. I’m not saying you must change everything about who you are. Your values, beliefs and core identity will remain unchanged (mostly). Some of your behaviours, habits and skills need to level up.

This leadership role requires new skills, so you must be prepared to become a learner again

This is an excerpt from my book, Level Up, published in 2022

Click here if you would like two complementary chapters of Level Up.

What are some new skills that you have had to develop?