Promoted to Lead but Still Doing the Work 

High achievers are often promoted into leadership because they consistently deliver results. But if they keep solving the toughest problems themselves, they limit their team’s growth and their own ability to lead. 

by Janet Ply, PhD · The Practical Leadership Newsletter · March 3, 2026

Lao Tzu, ancient Chinese philosopher, says this about leadership: “A leader is best when people barely know he exists; when his work is done, his aim fulfilled, they will say: we did it ourselves.”

You’re Still Doing the Work…and Leading in Your Spare Time

Many leaders want to keep being the go-to person. They answer the hard questions, fix issues quickly, and stay involved in the work that earned them their promotion.

Leadership becomes something they do after the “real work” is done.

Being the Go-To Person Feels Good - and That’s the Problem

When people come to you for answers, it reinforces your value. You feel needed. You’re trusted. You can move things forward quickly.

Who doesn’t want to feel this way?

So you keep stepping in, especially when the stakes are high and you can be the hero to others.

Here’s a quick assessment to determine if you fall into this trap. Rate each statement based on how often it’s true for you:

5 - Almost always, 4 - Often, 3 - Sometimes, 2 - Rarely, 1 - Almost Never

1. I regularly step in to solve problems that someone on my team could likely figure out with guidance.
   
   
2. Team members frequently come directly to me for answers instead of discussing solutions with each other first.
   
   
3. I feel a sense of satisfaction or relief when I’m the only one who knows how to handle a difficult situation.
   
   
4. It’s usually faster for me to do the work myself than to explain it to someone else.
   
   
5. I answer repeat questions from my team instead of helping them develop a way to solve similar issues on their own.
   
   
6. I often jump into technical or task-level work when things start to fall behind.
   
   
7. My calendar is filled with execution work, leaving limited time for planning, prioritization, or coaching.
   
   
8. I rarely delegate work that I know I can do well myself.
   
   
9. When someone brings me a problem, I tend to provide the answer rather than ask how they would approach it.
   
   
10. I worry that letting go of certain responsibilities will negatively impact quality or performance.

Scoring:

40–50: You may still be operating primarily as an individual contributor with a leadership title. Your team’s growth—and your ability to scale—may be limited by how much knowledge and decision-making remains with you.

25–39: You’re starting to shift into leadership, but may still step back into execution mode under pressure. Being intentional about coaching and delegation can help your team build capability.

10–24: You’re consistently developing others and creating space to focus on priorities, direction, and anticipating what’s ahead.

Hard Truth: Your Team Stops Growing and You Can’t Scale

If you stay the expert, knowledge stays with you. Work flows upward instead of outward. Your team becomes dependent, and your calendar fills up with work someone else could be learning to do.

Over time, you don’t have space for prioritization, direction setting, or anticipating what’s ahead.

Your leadership career stagnates.

What My Research Shows

I’ve worked with hundreds of leaders at all levels and most gravitate to the work they like to do, instead of the strategic thinking, goal-setting, team development leadership work that adds value.

One of the questions I’ve asked many C-Suite executives is this:

“What are the most common reasons that hold leaders back from reaching senior levels?”

One of the top two reasons is almost always that they can’t scale because they won’t delegate work to teams.

One CIO shared with me that he had a Director who worked 60+ hours a week and was heavily involved in all decisions. This individual struggled to delegate and micromanaged. After investing in coaching for six months, nothing changed.

The CIO said, “I need leaders who can scale themselves and their teams. We terminated the Director and the replacement is night and day different. The teams are happier, they’re learning new skills, and aren’t being micromanaged. This group gets 10 times more work done than with the previous person in the role. I wish we had made this move much sooner.”

Start Moving from Solver to Builder

The very skills that got you promoted are now holding you back. You have to make the mindset shift to stop being the go-to expert and build expertise in your team. Here are ways to help you with this:

1. Ask the person what they’ve already done to solve the problem before coming to you.
2. Trade the short-term let-me-give-you-the-answer for long-term capability when the risk is low. Have them do the work to arrive at the solution themselves.
3. Delegate outcomes and decisions, not just tasks, to allow them to come up with their own way of doing things.
4. Pay attention to when you coach instead of solve.

Remember that when you give answers, you are teaching your team that they don’t need to think. You become their crutch and when you give someone a crutch, they learn to limp.

I’ve heard so many leaders complain, “I’m so tired of having people bring me problems without solutions.” Maybe the leader is part of the problem.

Make Yourself the Last Stop, Not the First

Set the expectation that team members need to think through approaches and possible solutions before coming to you. Encourage peer problem-solving before escalating to you.

Leadership Is a Learnable Skill

If you feel like you’re constantly reacting, constantly behind, constantly in catch-up mode and want to change that, it’s fixable.

In my upcoming workshop, From Overwhelm to Confident Control, we’ll work through:

• How to delegate without micromanaging
• How to apply prioritization frameworks like the Eisenhower Matrix in real time
• How to set SMART goals and gain clarity on the most important work
• How to protect strategic work
• How to push back without damaging relationships
• How to move your team out of crisis mode and into steady execution
  
  

This live virtual workshop equips you with tactics you can immediately put into place and provides the activities needed for leadership discipline.

If you’re ready to lead with confident control instead of constant reaction, I’d love to have you join us.

Details coming soon.

Let’s move from firefighting… to building something that doesn’t burn down every quarter.

If this resonates with you, my book, Practical Leadership: A Guide to Building Trust, Getting Results, and Changing Lives would be a great addition to your library.

Mel Robbins, New York Times bestselling author and host of the Mel Robbins podcast had this praise for the book, “Janet Ply is the real deal. I’ve seen way too many talented people flail in leadership because nobody ever taught them how to do the job well. This book fixes that. Janet has been in the fire, she’s led through chaos, and now she’s giving you the tools she’s used to rescue high-stakes, high-dollar messes. If you lead people - or you want to - Practical Leadership should live on your desk. Get it, use it, lead better.”

Order it on Amazon or your favorite local bookstore.