I fell into the trap of the hero leader — and I didn’t even realise it.

For years, I thought being a great leader meant being the fixer, being the hero.
When something broke, I jumped in.
When someone struggled, I stepped up.
When there was silence, I filled it.

That mindset made me feel valuable.
Smart. Capable. In control.

And it worked. Until it didn’t.

Early in my first leadership role, I had a wake-up call. I got some pretty damning 360 feedback:
“𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘩𝘪𝘳𝘦 𝘣𝘳𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘥𝘰𝘯’𝘵 𝘭𝘦𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘦.”
Ouch!!!!

That’s when I realised:
By constantly stepping in, I was crowding people out.
By solving everything, I was keeping my team from growing.
I’d become the hero leader — the one who tries to do it all.

But leadership isn’t about being the hero.
It’s about creating the conditions for others to thrive.

So I did the work:
✅ I got a coach
✅ I learned to delegate
✅ I practiced coaching instead of solving

It wasn’t easy — I had to unlearn habits that had made me successful.

But it paid off:
- More motivated teams
- A scalable business
- And a leader (me) who wasn’t working 24/7

Now, I often work with leaders who find themselves in the same trap.
They’re brilliant and driven…  but can’t stop fixing.
They carry too much. Step in too fast. Then wonder why their team isn’t stepping up.

So we slow down and ask:
- What are you afraid will happen if you don’t step in?
- Where are you adding value? And where are you just adding noise?
- Who in your team is ready to lead, and what’s getting in their way?
- What would it take to trust your people more?

Then we build new habits:
- Delegating with clarity
- Coaching instead of solving
- Creating space for others to lead
- And learning how to tolerate the discomfort of not being in control

It’s not about stepping back.
It’s about stepping aside — so others can step forward.

𝗛𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝗳𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿𝘀𝗲𝗹𝗳 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗼 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗲𝗿 𝗿𝗼𝗹𝗲?
𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗵𝗲𝗹𝗽𝗲𝗱 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗳𝘁?

And if you’re wrestling with this now, I’d love to support you.