For the past few years, I've had a quote from Seth Godin written down that I come back to often. It has nothing to do with strategy, organizational charts, or leadership meetings. On the surface, it's about practice, shared during a discussion about authenticity. But the more I've thought about it, the more I think it's really about identity.
Tomorrow morning, you probably won't feel like engaging in your practice. And if so, probably not the next day either. But once you decide you are an ______ , then you do what ______ does. You no longer have to decide, "Do I want to do ______ today?" But rather, since I'm ______ , I will do this.
I've probably read those words a hundred times, and every time I do, I find myself thinking about my own role and roles I've held in the past. There are days when I spend hours doing work that isn't my unique ability. Sometimes that's simply what the business needs from me. But the quote has also become a way for me to recognize when I'm holding onto something simply because I'm comfortable with it, not because it's the highest and best use of my time in the role I am in now.
That thought came back to me during a conversation I had recently with a CEO I know. We were talking candidly about his first year leading the company and the changes he'd made since stepping into the role. I knew he had recently hired a Business Guide, and I was curious what had prompted the decision.
He told me that with the current goals of the company, the vision was changing from what the previous CEO had envisioned. This meant ensuring he could clearly articulate, document, and track the new vision of the company with his leadership team. He found it difficult to manage this while also facilitating every leadership meeting and preparing to present to the company's board.
He realized he had been preparing to facilitate the meeting instead of preparing to lead it. His attention was split between keeping the agenda on track, managing the discussion, watching the clock, and trying to contribute to the conversation. He could do both, but should he?
By bringing in a Business Guide as a facilitator, the vision became stronger and clearer because now he could spend his time doing what only the CEO could do. He could challenge assumptions, reinforce where the company was headed, ask better questions, and help his leadership team make better decisions. Someone else managed the process. He stayed focused on the purpose.
I've been thinking about that conversation. Not because every leadership team needs a facilitator.
But rather, I wonder how often we continue doing work simply because we're good at it—or because we've been doing it for so long that we don't know how to let it go. Even after our roles have changed.
As businesses grow, roles evolve. The founder who once made every decision can't continue making every decision forever. The sales leader who built the first million dollars of revenue may eventually need to spend more time developing people rather than closing deals. The operations leader who once solved every problem personally may find that building systems creates more value than solving the next issue themselves.
If you've worked your way up to a leadership position, you've probably become pretty good at learning new skills already. The question is whether you're learning the right ones—and whether you're willing to hand off the work that no longer requires you.
That's uncomfortable because the work we're being asked to let go of is often the work we're best at. It's familiar. It's rewarding. It's the work that helped get us here.
But growth isn't always about continuing to do what made us successful. It's about becoming the leader the business needs next.
I'm still thinking this one through...
Have you ever realized that something you were very good at was no longer the highest and best use of your role? And if so, what helped you recognize it?