In an ideal world, as a leader you’d be able to trust your team to make decisions and then let you know. You hired people who are great at doing what they do – which is why you hired them in the first place. So let them do their work, and your work as a leader is to make sure they’re supported AND that they’re supporting the overall vision of the company.

This means you might not need to be in every meeting, nor make all the announcements. In a traditional hierarchy, you need to understand the weight of your presence, and use it strategically. 

This means letting your direct reports run meetings sometimes, and empowering them with the tools to make good decisions on your behalf. It means taking a step back for others to lead AND making sure they know that you’re supporting them and not just throwing them into the deep end. 

Leadership is often about walking a fine line, and occasionally making mistakes that you own up to. After all, your ownership of your own growth opportunities will show others that they too can make mistakes, which will then allow for a greater tolerance of autonomy and ownership, which will drive results as well as innovation. 

It’s hard especially if you’ve mainly done things instead of delegating, but the larger the role, the more removed from the work you’ll have to be. Extend trust to your team, and they’ll in turn build your trust in them.