Your Team Doesn’t Need a Hero
How doing less helps your team grow more
👋 Hey, Carlos here! Welcome to “The Holistic Leader”, your weekly source of simple and honest leadership, Agile, Management & team insights.
Some weeks, I catch myself doing too much.
Jumping into every problem.
Offering solutions before they’re asked for.
Thinking I’m being helpful—when I’m actually just getting in the way.
This isn’t about ego. It’s about habit.
And it’s a habit many of us fall into, especially when we care deeply about our teams.
If you're a Scrum Master, Agile Coach, Team lead or a leader in your industry, you’ve probably felt this too.
You step in with good intentions.
But over time, your team starts to wait for you to lead every step.
And suddenly, the load is all on you.
That’s what today’s piece is about.
It’s not a critique.
It’s a reminder.
A reminder that real leadership isn’t about saving the day all the time.
It’s about making sure you don’t have to.
This isn’t about trying harder
It’s about what you’ve taught them.
When you always step in,
you’re sending a message:
“I’ll handle it.”
You don’t mean to say that.
But your actions say it.
So now what?
You’ve become the one who keeps everything going.
And when you're not around?
Things stop.
Here’s the cost of being the “hero”:
They lose confidence
Your team doesn’t grow
You feel tired and overwhelmed
They wait instead of taking action
So what should leadership really look like?
It’s not about fixing things.
It’s about helping people get stronger.
That means:
Letting them lead small things
Giving space for others to think
Helping them learn, even if it takes longer
Try this instead:
Next time someone brings a problem:
Pause
Ask: “What do you think we should do?”
Wait a bit. Let them think.
Support them after they’ve tried, not before
It might feel slow. It might feel a little messy.
But it’s worth it.
Because your job isn’t to be the hero.
It’s to build a team that doesn’t need one.
Final Thought:
Some of the hardest moments in my leadership journey were the ones where I stayed quiet and I did it on purpose.
Not because I didn’t have an answer.
But because I wanted them to find theirs.
It’s uncomfortable to watch someone struggle with a problem you know how to fix.
But that’s how people grow.
That’s how teams grow.
Real leadership isn’t about showing how capable you are.
It’s about helping others see what they can do.
This week, give your team a little more space than feels comfortable.
And trust them to take it.
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