I’ve wanted to be the boss since elementary school. Nobody told me the boss stops getting applause.
If you have more authority and more responsibility than you’ve ever had, and some days you genuinely can’t say what you accomplished, this one is for you. Not the busy kind of accomplished. The big kind.
WHAT IS REALLY GOING ON
Early in your career, it’s “I did that.” Then it’s “We did that.” Then one day it’s “They did that, and my job was to make it possible.”
When you’ve spent years being exceptional at something, the work keeps telling you that you’re good, valuable, needed. Senior leadership asks you to stop doing that so much. You hire the right person, set the direction, clear the obstacle, and she produces the visible win. Not you. That can feel disturbingly like becoming less valuable at the exact moment you’ve become more responsible.
So we go back downstairs and start messing with everybody’s work. Me too. Sometimes we’re not fixing it because it needs us. We’re fixing it because we need it.
IN THIS EPISODE
- The part of being the boss that never made it into my elementary school brochure, and what my Talent Pool failure taught me about owning every decision.
- Why the source of your satisfaction has to move as you rise, and how to tell whether you’re reaching back into the work for them or for you.
- What leadership looks like when it’s working: a team member builds a Claude skill with AI, and I’m nowhere in the finished thing.
THE IDEA TO KEEP
Early power looks like proving, pushing, talking, directing, fixing, being everywhere. Mature power looks like knowing exactly where to apply yourself and where not to.
The higher you go, the less you get to be the hero. And the more powerful you become, the less you need to perform your power.
TRY THIS THIS WEEK
Each time you catch yourself reaching back into work that isn’t yours anymore, stop and ask: who needs that support, them or me? Write down the answer. By Friday, you’ll have a map of where you’re still hungry for the applause.
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CHAPTERS
00:00 The boss stops getting applause
02:00 The part of being the boss nobody put in the brochure
03:00 From “I did that” to “They did that”
05:00 Fixing it because we need it
07:00 Early power vs. mature power
Sometimes we’re not fixing it because it needs us. We’re fixing it because we need it.
