Today’s post is a short one.

The younger Engineering Manager in me took pride in being the center of everything. My leadership style was all about leading from the front. Combined with a strong bias for action, it felt good, and it worked well enough to get me to Senior EM.

I remember once, right before heading out on PTO, I created a neat spreadsheet detailing every single responsibility I was in charge of, alongside the designated delegate for while I was away. It felt satisfying to see just how much work I was doing. The controller in me was happy.

I was reminded of that spreadsheet today, and it made me smile. These days, I spend my time mentoring others on my team about servant leadership and how to lead by “making it theirs.”

These leadership transitions are hard-earned. They don’t just come from reading books or articles; you have to be present, working within certain teams and organizations, to truly witness and internalize what this transformation means.

As you climb up, leadership becomes less about you and more about how you enable those around you to do what you once did. That is the only way you can move on to other things. The more you hold on to the same tasks, the less room you have to grow.

I wrote a similar article last year about how at a particular case I was in a situation where it was not about letting it go but I had nothing to let go!