From Execution to Guidance: The Challenge of Patience in Leadership
Almost all of us go through the same thing: we get promoted to a leadership position because we are excellent at executing. You were the developer who solved bugs in record time, the one who mastered every technology in the stack, or that technical profile who always found the most efficient solution. In short, you got there because you knew how to do the job with outstanding precision.
But the day you receive the new title, the rules of the game change completely. Nobody tells you that your greatest strength —your technical ability— can now become your greatest obstacle if you don’t know how to manage it.
The trap of “stepping in” to save time ⏱️
There is something fundamental we need to understand: as a leader, it’s highly likely that you are still better at doing operational tasks than the people you now supervise. That is the root of the frustration. You see a teammate take hours on something you would solve in minutes, or you see them take a path that, from experience, you know isn’t ideal.
The immediate temptation is to step in, take control, and say: “Leave it, I’ll handle it so it gets done fast”.
The problem is that, in that exact moment, you stop leading. You are not building a team; you are simply acting as an executor with a hierarchical title. Every time you intervene to “save time,” you are robbing your team of the opportunity to develop their own judgment and become as capable as you are.
Leadership as an act of trust 🤝
Leading is not about proving you have all the answers, but about having the discipline not to say them to allow others to discover them. It involves understanding that:
- Your role has changed: You are no longer evaluated by what you do with your hands, but by how you empower the capabilities of others.
- Mistakes are a necessary investment: Unless it’s a real emergency (which are very rare), letting someone make a mistake is allowing them to acquire experience that no theoretical explanation will give them.
- Patience is a technical tool: Giving the team space to learn at their own pace is what guarantees that, in the long run, the project will be sustainable without you having to micromanage every detail.
Final thought 💡
If you are leading a team today, remember that at some point someone had the patience to let you try things your way. Your job now is to give back that space.
Leadership is, essentially, an exercise in generosity. It’s about knowing when to stay silent and let the team shine, even if the path is a bit slower. The ultimate goal isn’t to be the smartest voice in the room, but to build an environment where everyone is capable of finding the answers for themselves.