June 10, 2025 • 28 mins
Are the leadership beliefs you’ve always heard actually sabotaging your success?
In today’s episode, we dig into five persistent leadership myths that sound true, but could be limiting your growth and your team’s performance.
Discover why needing all the answers, proving yourself, glorifying busyness, saying yes to everything, and doing it all yourself are outdated habits, and learn practical strategies to replace them.
Step into a new, empowered approach to leadership that drives collaboration, clarity, and real results.
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Save your seat for the Leadership Collab at cignalpartners.com/collab
A free virtual roundtable to have honest conversations, share ideas, and learn simple shifts to delegate with more ease and confidence.
Join me online at The Leadership Collab on July 24th at 6 PM ET for a candid conversation on how to delegate with more clarity and confidence.
We’re talking real strategies - not theory - for getting out of the day-to-day and empowering your team to step up.
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This event is free!
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:10):
Hey there and welcome back to another episode of
Leveraging Operations inLeadership podcast.
This is the podcast where wehelp business leaders like you
lead high performing teams bybridging the gap between
operational excellence andleadership development.
I'm your host, tanya Harrison,an operations and leadership
(00:34):
consultant and founder of SignalPartners, a boutique training
and consulting firm thatempowers leaders to lead with
confidence, clarity andcapability.
In today's episode, we areunpacking five leadership myths.
Now, I know there's a lot morethan that, but we're going to
(00:54):
start with five.
And these five leadership myths.
They sound like truth, but theymay actually be holding you
back from your next level.
These myths are subtle.
They've been passed down timeover time, so they are really
outdated, but they still play avital role when it comes to
(01:19):
holding people back.
A lot of times, our new andemerging leaders.
They fall for this becauseyou're still learning, you're
growing and you just don't know.
Yet what we find is thatthey're actually baked into the
way we've been taught to lead.
So until you develop your ownway of leading, your own rhythm,
(01:46):
you may fall privy to some ofthese things and, if left
unchallenged, they willdefinitely lead to burnout, poor
team performance and missedopportunities.
So I want to go ahead and dig inand break these down.
I'm going to start with mythnumber one, and this is leaders
(02:07):
need to have all the answers.
This myth is one of the fastestways to burn out and it creates
a culture of dependency.
Now I'm the one that has all ofthe answers, so my team is
always dependent on me, so myteam is always dependent on me.
Everybody is always calling.
You know me, and in thebeginning you may think that
(02:29):
this is a good thing, but it'sreally not.
This is the quickest way, thequickest route to burning
yourself out.
There's this belief that onceyou become a leader, you should
suddenly know everything andhave all of the answers, and
that is far from the truth.
(02:49):
You should have solutions, youshould have strategy and you
should have right words in everysituation Right, wrong, wrong.
That's not leadership, that'spressure and that's not
leadership.
That's pressure and that's notsustainable.
The truth is, great leaders donot have all of the answers.
(03:11):
They ask better questions.
As you become really good atasking the right questions, you
are going to be growing in yourleadership.
It's not about having all of theanswers.
If you need to have all of theanswers, then why do you need a
team?
Why do you need people aroundyou?
(03:32):
Your real power as a leaderlies in being able to facilitate
conversations, being able topull out your team's strengths,
being able to guidedecision-making not necessarily
making every decision on yourown.
You're making it with the inputof your team.
(03:53):
Of course, are there somedecisions that you have to make
alone?
Yes, from a leadershipperspective, there may be some,
but when we're talking aboutday-to-day work and how to get
things done and solutions, a lotof that input should be coming
from your team.
That's why we hire great people.
(04:13):
That's why we develop our team.
That's the whole purpose ofhaving a high-performing team.
When you let go of the need toknow it all, you unlock
collaboration.
People are going to be moreopen to share with you.
You show your team that it'sokay to think, to experiment, to
(04:34):
problem solve, to brainstormtogether in a collaborative
setting, and what you do is yougive your team the opportunity
to show their value, to displaysome of their ideas, and now
they are a part of the solution.
That helps with accountability.
(04:55):
Remember, you don't need to bethe expert in everything.
You need to build a team thatcan execute with confidence even
when you're not in the room,because, hopefully, you want to
go on vacation sometimes, right,okay, just checking.
That's myth number one.
Let's move on to myth numbertwo.
This one is near and dear to myheart Because, you know, this
(05:20):
is definitely one that I had towork on.
Myth number two is provingyourself.
Is the key to respect?
Yeah, no, no, it's not the keyto respect and it's not the key
to unlock your next level.
So this one shows up reallystrong for new and emerging
(05:41):
leaders, right?
So we have been promoted intothis new position and now we
have to show everybody why weare here.
And this is not only for newleaders, but I find that when
I'm working with women or peoplethat are in underrepresented,
that are truly underrepresentedin leadership spaces, a lot of
(06:04):
times there's that addedpressure to show up differently.
I got to do three, four timesto work.
I have to prove that I amcapable.
So I do that by working harder,staying later, saying yes to
everything you know, burning myteam out, and eventually I feel
that people will finally see myworth and I'll be respected for
(06:31):
what it is that I bring to thetable.
I'll, you know, I'll get thatpromotion.
And here's what I want you toknow Functioning in that way
where you're always trying toprove yourself is going to keep
you in a reactive state, whereasif you transition to
positioning yourself, it putsyou in control.
And this is something that I hadto deal with.
(06:54):
I was a manager, and I was amanager for several years and I
had been promised a promotionover and over again and people
just kept coming in.
They kept bringing in peopleover me and I found myself
training these people.
You know what I mean, but Ifelt in my heart I did that.
You know what, if I go and Iwork hard, eventually I'm going
(07:16):
to be recognized for what it isthat I bring to the table.
And I never was, and I ended upleaving that organization was,
and I ended up leaving thatorganization.
And when I went to the nextorganization, I decided that I
needed to do things differently.
And that is when I went on thissearch for how I needed to show
(07:37):
up, how I needed to do things,how what I did before did not
serve me, it did not work for me.
So you know, when we're in astate of proving, it says let me
show you, I can do it all.
And that's what I was doingHeads down, working late, that's
what I was doing.
I mean, my team and I had awonderful team.
(08:01):
Anything I asked them to do,they would do it.
So they were working late, theywere burnt out and I had to
learn how to move to a state offrom proving to positioning,
because, like I said before,proving says let me show you, I
can do it all, whereaspositioning it says here's how I
(08:22):
provide strategic value, andthat is different.
So I had to learn how to gofrom.
Instead of chasing validation, Ihad to shift my focus to
providing value, and that's whatbuilt real leadership
credibility.
That's how I got noticed andrecognized, because I was on
(08:45):
constant display of here's whatI bring to the table, not head
down trying to prove myself andvalidate myself.
It is such a difference whenyou're not seeking that
validation, when you know whatyou know.
You know what you bring to thetable.
You bring to the table, andthat is on display all the time.
(09:12):
And it wasn't.
It didn't come from me knowingor having all of the answers, it
came from me positioning myselfdifferent.
So you know, just keep in mindthat when you lead from a place
of positioning.
You show up with intentionality, you're clear on your role,
you're clear on your role,you're clear on your priorities,
you're clear on the impact thatyou have with your team, with
(09:32):
your department, with theorganization, and you stop
over-functioning and you startowning your lane.
When I started owning my lane, Iblew up.
I moved to the nextorganization.
I was a manager.
I went from being a manager toa director in less than 90 days
(09:52):
and then I just kept growingfrom there and I contribute it
all to the fact that I decidedto show up different.
Now it doesn't mean that I didnot work hard I did but it means
that I worked smarter.
It wasn't about staying allnight.
(10:12):
It wasn't about heads downdoing my work and hoping that
someone would recognize me.
It was about showing up andletting everybody see the value
that I bring.
And letting everybody see thevalue that I bring.
It was about confidence andclarity in my capabilities, in
my team's capabilities.
So it just looked differently.
(10:38):
So definitely a myth that youthink that you have to stay in
this state of proving yourselfand validating yourself.
And the quicker you make thattransition, the quicker you're
going to see a change, not justin you, but in your team and in
the people around you, how theylook at you, how they treat you.
Everything just starts to openup.
And I will say this there aregoing to be some situations
(11:01):
where, no matter what you do,you may not feel valued and you
have to make the decision to dowhat's best for you.
All right.
So myth number three let's moveon.
Myth number three being busymeans being productive.
There are some of us that arestill in this right.
Just because your calendar isfilled does not mean that you
(11:25):
have been productive.
I do time management workshopsand that's one of the biggest
things I try to convey toleaders and business owners.
It's not how many tasks you doduring the day, it's not how
many meetings you attend.
What it is about is what you'reactually getting done.
If your schedule is full,you're actually getting done.
If your schedule is full butyour results are flat or
(11:49):
non-existent, then you're notproductive.
You're just being busy, andthis hustle culture has
convinced a lot of leaders thatmotion equals progress.
But in reality, busyness is nota badge of honor.
It's a warning sign.
It's a warning sign.
It's a warning sign that youneed to do something different
(12:10):
and you have to be reallyconscious of what you are
spending your time on.
As a leader of a high performingteam, you don't just do more
right.
You don't just get more thingsdone.
You focus on doing what mattersand you guide your team to
(12:33):
focus on doing what matters.
That means that you're workingwith clear systems, you're
setting real priorities right,so you have a goal.
Your team knows what that goalis, everybody knows what
direction you're going in andyou are setting everything up so
(12:53):
that you are all going in thesame direction and you're
creating a space to thinkstrategically.
So think about this.
Productivity is about alignment.
It's not about activity.
If you're busy and you're notbuilding, if you're not meeting
milestones, if you're notgetting the right things done,
(13:16):
then something needs to shift.
You need to go back to thebeginning.
What is the goal for me and myteam?
Is the goal for me and my team?
How does every single personalign with that and are we
making progress?
Because you have to bemeasuring these things and if
you are going through the day,like I said, and you are just
(13:38):
showing up but you're not seeingoutcomes and results, then you
go back to the beginning and Ijust want to drop this, because
this happens a lot.
Be mindful of the meetings thatyou go to and how you show up in
those meetings.
A lot of times, meetings arewasteful.
(13:59):
There's no return on investment, there's not even an agenda.
Many times, people show up inmeetings that they didn't even
need to be a part of.
But if they had known what themeeting was about, what the
intended outcome was about, whatthe objective was about asking
a lot of questions about certainmeetings and just going through
(14:21):
your work schedule and lookingand saying here's what I did,
what did I really accomplish?
Did this put me on track toachieving whatever it is that
(14:41):
I'm trying to achieve?
All right, that is myth numberthree being busy does not mean
being productive.
Okay.
Myth number four you can't sayno as a leader.
Now I understand.
When you are new, you got tothinking like how do I say no to
my boss?
If my boss asks me to dosomething, how do I tell them no
(15:04):
?
But many leaders struggle withthis one.
Regardless of where they areWhether you are new, middle
management, upper management alot of leaders struggle with
this one and find it to be achallenge, especially those who
want to be seen as helpful andcollaborative and approachable
(15:25):
and respectful.
So how do you say no, right?
Or should you even say no?
Even say no.
I'm telling you as a leadersomeone that has been in
leadership for 30 plus yearsthat the answer is yes.
At some point you're going tohave to say no, but it's how you
do it right.
So here's what I want you tothink about when you say yes to
(15:52):
everything, you blur yourpriorities, because that means
that your priorities aren'tgetting done.
If you're saying yes toeverything and everyone, and not
only that, you stretch yourenergy too thin.
It's just not feasible.
You can't do it and you make itharder for your team to focus.
You got to keep in mind thatwhen you are building a high
(16:14):
performing team, you have to bemindful of how you guide them
and how you lead them.
So saying no is not a failure.
It's actually a leadershipskill that you have to develop.
Strong leaders know how to sayno with clarity and confidence.
They actually protect theirtime, their vision and their
(16:35):
team's focus.
We're not having our teamsgoing back and forth and doing
all of these things.
And I talk about how youreframe things in episode 29,
mastering the Middle, how tobalance team and leadership
demands.
I talk about how you reframethings, and that's the same
(16:57):
thing.
When it comes to saying no, youhave to be mindful of how you
reframe things.
One of the most beautiful thingsI saw in a leadership meeting
and this had to be like 20 yearsago, but it blew my mind right
we had this CEO and he alwayshad all of these big, bright
(17:19):
ideas and you could look aroundthe room and you could see the
people in the room, I mean fromthe attorney, our financial
staff, our CPAs.
You can look around the roomand you can see people like how
in the heck are we going to dothat?
He was a part of the accountingteam and I really liked the way
(17:40):
he approached it right.
So I realized that he wouldn'tsay no to our CEO.
So everybody else was saying,yeah, we can do it and oh, yeah,
we can make it work and all ofthis.
His take was different.
He did not directly say no, buthe told him what it would take
(18:03):
in order to do it.
It was kind of like, yes, wecould do it, but it's going to
cost a million dollars and Xamount of hours and he would
literally sit there and break itdown, like, yes, we could do it
, but here's what it's gonnatake and here's what we have to
forego.
So he basically told him thefull story and he allowed the
(18:24):
CEO to say, no, oh, I thoughtthat was so brilliant.
I thought that was so brilliantbecause, while everybody else
was kind of like gassing them up, like oh yeah, we can do it
(18:57):
no-transcript.
So I really liked his approachand I find that that is a way of
reframing Right.
So I'm not necessarily sayingno, but I'm saying, ok is your
decision if you want us to godown this path, but here's what
that looks like.
And giving them the full story,because many times I feel like
people don't have the full story.
(19:19):
So there's different situationswhere if your senior leadership
or a client or someone asks youto do something, there's this
reframing that takes place andyou know you provide them with
the information and you allowthem to decide how to move
forward.
And then there's gonna beinstances where it's just no, I
(19:41):
don't have the bandwidth to do X, y and Z, and there's going to
be those times.
You just have to decide whattactic you're going to use, but
it's going to come up whereyou're going to have to say no,
right.
So make sure that you aresaying no to things that don't
align with your goals and youare saying yes to things that
(20:05):
actually matter.
Do X, y, z and you are asked todo something that is outside of
that, that is going to take youaway from that or take you off
track to achieving that goal.
Then you need to make adecision how you say no.
(20:26):
I'm not saying don't say no,just how you say no.
And just think a little bitabout that.
Right, boundaries aren'tselfish, they're structure.
Just think a little bit aboutthat.
Right, boundaries aren'tselfish, they're structure.
And I know that there's timeswhen I've had to say no to my
team.
Maybe I was in the middle ofdoing something and somebody
(20:46):
asked me you know, hey, can Ihave 30 minutes?
And I'm like, yes, but notright now.
So let's schedule some time forthat, because I needed to
complete whatever it was that Iwas working on at that moment.
And many times, as a leader,you'll find that you'll get the
interruptions right, but youhave to condition people.
You can't just show up to mydoor and expect for me to stop
(21:08):
what I'm doing, because whathappens is, if five people do
that throughout the day, thenyou are totally off course with
what it is that you want to do.
If you're able to plan for theday, then you are totally off
course with what it is that youwant to do.
If you're able to plan forthose times, then you want to do
that.
Are there, you know,emergencies or important things
that come up that this rulewouldn't apply?
Absolutely right, you have touse your best judgment, but what
(21:29):
I'm saying is don't be afraidto say no.
Just kind of think about inyour mind how you're going to
say no to some things.
If it's just a flat out no ornot right now, or here's what it
would take to make that happen.
Are you willing to give up thismuch or invest this much and
let them make the decision?
So, boundaries, boundaries,boundaries.
(21:52):
Your leadership needs structurein order to thrive.
Think about how you're going todo that and practice that.
Okay, our last myth, myth numberfive.
I dealt with this one early onin leadership as well.
Doing it all yourself is theonly way to get it done right.
How many of you have thoughtthis?
(22:13):
I'm not going to give it tosomebody or a delegate because
my boss gave it to me and I wantit to be right and it can't be
messed up.
And this one kind of sneaks upon us high achievers and
founders especially when youbelieve no one can do it like
you, you stop delegating and youhold on to every task and
(22:36):
eventually you actually becomethe bottleneck for your team and
your business.
But leadership isn't aboutcontrol, it's about capacity.
You cannot grow into the leaderthat your business or
organization or your team needsif you're buried in the weeds.
You have to learn how todelegate.
(22:57):
So delegation it's not aboutdon't think of it as about
dumping, because when it's doneright, it's not dumping, it's
not just getting things off yourplate.
It's about building your team'sconfidence and confidence and
then also building your capacityto take on higher level things.
(23:18):
You have to be able to trustyour team with responsibility
and give them the opportunity torise to the occasion.
And yes, there's a way that youshould delegate right.
You don't just give somethingto somebody and don't explain it
, and you know things like that.
So, yeah, absolutely, there isa way that you you delegate.
(23:41):
So I actually have an episodeon that as well, and it's called
Delegation Tactics for ElevatedTeam Performance, and this is
about delegating in a way thatis effective and it makes sense
for you, but not just for you,but for your team as well.
So that's episode 23.
(24:03):
You may want to go back andlisten to that, but the thing
about it is is that 70% ofleaders find delegation
challenging.
So you're not alone.
You are definitely not alone,but in order for you to continue
to grow as a leader and inorder for your team to continue
(24:24):
to grow and become the highperforming team that you want
them to be, then you're going tohave to be really good at
delegating.
You have to release in order torise, because if not, you're
going to be weighted down andthat you're not going to be able
to not just go to the nextlevel.
So it's not just about I wantto be promoted from supervisor
(24:47):
to manager, manager to director.
It's not just about that.
It's about you growing as aperson and you growing as a
leader, and all of this needs tohappen in order for you to show
up as the best version ofyourself in this leadership role
.
So that, my friends, that'smyth number five.
(25:07):
So those are the five myths thatI wanted to share with you
today, and I know that this wenta little longer than I thought,
but hopefully you find ithelpful.
So let's just recap reallyquickly.
Number one you do not need tohave all of the answers.
Your job is to guide, providesupport, not to solve all of the
(25:30):
problems, but to facilitatethat conversation.
You don't need to proveyourself.
So you want to move fromproving to positioning, and move
from a state of needing to bevalidated to showing up and
showing your value.
Number three being busy isn'tproductive.
(25:50):
Make sure that you get alignedwith what actually moves the
needle.
Number four saying no is notselfish.
It's actually strategic andit's going to keep you on point
and aligned.
Number five doing it allyourself is not efficient.
It's actually exhausting andit's holding you and your team
(26:13):
back.
So these myths may soundfamiliar, they may even feel
like the truth, but they'reholding you back from leading
with intention, clarity andimpact.
The good news is is that youcan break free from them.
You don't have to stay in thisplace.
You can rewrite your leadershipstory starting today, right now
(26:35):
.
All right.
So thanks for joining me onLeveraging Operations in
Leadership podcast.
If this episode resonated withyou, do me a favor share it with
another leader who might becarrying these myths too.
And if you're ready to leadfrom a place of strategy and
strength, make sure you'resubscribed to my team navigator
(26:57):
newsletter, where I drop monthlytools and insights to help you
lead smarter, not harder.
Until next time, lead well,operate with intention.
Hey there and welcome back to another episode of
Leveraging Operations inLeadership podcast.
This is the podcast where wehelp business leaders like you
lead high performing teams bybridging the gap between
operational excellence andleadership development.
I'm your host, tanya Harrison,an operations and leadership
(00:34):
consultant and founder of SignalPartners, a boutique training
and consulting firm thatempowers leaders to lead with
confidence, clarity andcapability.
In today's episode, we areunpacking five leadership myths.
Now, I know there's a lot morethan that, but we're going to
(00:54):
start with five.
And these five leadership myths.
They sound like truth, but theymay actually be holding you
back from your next level.
These myths are subtle.
They've been passed down timeover time, so they are really
outdated, but they still play avital role when it comes to
(01:19):
holding people back.
A lot of times, our new andemerging leaders.
They fall for this becauseyou're still learning, you're
growing and you just don't know.
Yet what we find is thatthey're actually baked into the
way we've been taught to lead.
So until you develop your ownway of leading, your own rhythm,
(01:46):
you may fall privy to some ofthese things and, if left
unchallenged, they willdefinitely lead to burnout, poor
team performance and missedopportunities.
So I want to go ahead and dig inand break these down.
I'm going to start with mythnumber one, and this is leaders
(02:07):
need to have all the answers.
This myth is one of the fastestways to burn out and it creates
a culture of dependency.
Now I'm the one that has all ofthe answers, so my team is
always dependent on me, so myteam is always dependent on me.
Everybody is always calling.
You know me, and in thebeginning you may think that
(02:29):
this is a good thing, but it'sreally not.
This is the quickest way, thequickest route to burning
yourself out.
There's this belief that onceyou become a leader, you should
suddenly know everything andhave all of the answers, and
that is far from the truth.
(02:49):
You should have solutions, youshould have strategy and you
should have right words in everysituation Right, wrong, wrong.
That's not leadership, that'spressure and that's not
leadership.
That's pressure and that's notsustainable.
The truth is, great leaders donot have all of the answers.
(03:11):
They ask better questions.
As you become really good atasking the right questions, you
are going to be growing in yourleadership.
It's not about having all of theanswers.
If you need to have all of theanswers, then why do you need a
team?
Why do you need people aroundyou?
(03:32):
Your real power as a leaderlies in being able to facilitate
conversations, being able topull out your team's strengths,
being able to guidedecision-making not necessarily
making every decision on yourown.
You're making it with the inputof your team.
(03:53):
Of course, are there somedecisions that you have to make
alone?
Yes, from a leadershipperspective, there may be some,
but when we're talking aboutday-to-day work and how to get
things done and solutions, a lotof that input should be coming
from your team.
That's why we hire great people.
(04:13):
That's why we develop our team.
That's the whole purpose ofhaving a high-performing team.
When you let go of the need toknow it all, you unlock
collaboration.
People are going to be moreopen to share with you.
You show your team that it'sokay to think, to experiment, to
(04:34):
problem solve, to brainstormtogether in a collaborative
setting, and what you do is yougive your team the opportunity
to show their value, to displaysome of their ideas, and now
they are a part of the solution.
That helps with accountability.
(04:55):
Remember, you don't need to bethe expert in everything.
You need to build a team thatcan execute with confidence even
when you're not in the room,because, hopefully, you want to
go on vacation sometimes, right,okay, just checking.
That's myth number one.
Let's move on to myth numbertwo.
This one is near and dear to myheart Because, you know, this
(05:20):
is definitely one that I had towork on.
Myth number two is provingyourself.
Is the key to respect?
Yeah, no, no, it's not the keyto respect and it's not the key
to unlock your next level.
So this one shows up reallystrong for new and emerging
(05:41):
leaders, right?
So we have been promoted intothis new position and now we
have to show everybody why weare here.
And this is not only for newleaders, but I find that when
I'm working with women or peoplethat are in underrepresented,
that are truly underrepresentedin leadership spaces, a lot of
(06:04):
times there's that addedpressure to show up differently.
I got to do three, four timesto work.
I have to prove that I amcapable.
So I do that by working harder,staying later, saying yes to
everything you know, burning myteam out, and eventually I feel
that people will finally see myworth and I'll be respected for
(06:31):
what it is that I bring to thetable.
I'll, you know, I'll get thatpromotion.
And here's what I want you toknow Functioning in that way
where you're always trying toprove yourself is going to keep
you in a reactive state, whereasif you transition to
positioning yourself, it putsyou in control.
And this is something that I hadto deal with.
(06:54):
I was a manager, and I was amanager for several years and I
had been promised a promotionover and over again and people
just kept coming in.
They kept bringing in peopleover me and I found myself
training these people.
You know what I mean, but Ifelt in my heart I did that.
You know what, if I go and Iwork hard, eventually I'm going
(07:16):
to be recognized for what it isthat I bring to the table.
And I never was, and I ended upleaving that organization was,
and I ended up leaving thatorganization.
And when I went to the nextorganization, I decided that I
needed to do things differently.
And that is when I went on thissearch for how I needed to show
(07:37):
up, how I needed to do things,how what I did before did not
serve me, it did not work for me.
So you know, when we're in astate of proving, it says let me
show you, I can do it all.
And that's what I was doingHeads down, working late, that's
what I was doing.
I mean, my team and I had awonderful team.
(08:01):
Anything I asked them to do,they would do it.
So they were working late, theywere burnt out and I had to
learn how to move to a state offrom proving to positioning,
because, like I said before,proving says let me show you, I
can do it all, whereaspositioning it says here's how I
(08:22):
provide strategic value, andthat is different.
So I had to learn how to gofrom.
Instead of chasing validation, Ihad to shift my focus to
providing value, and that's whatbuilt real leadership
credibility.
That's how I got noticed andrecognized, because I was on
(08:45):
constant display of here's whatI bring to the table, not head
down trying to prove myself andvalidate myself.
It is such a difference whenyou're not seeking that
validation, when you know whatyou know.
You know what you bring to thetable.
You bring to the table, andthat is on display all the time.
(09:12):
And it wasn't.
It didn't come from me knowingor having all of the answers, it
came from me positioning myselfdifferent.
So you know, just keep in mindthat when you lead from a place
of positioning.
You show up with intentionality, you're clear on your role,
you're clear on your role,you're clear on your priorities,
you're clear on the impact thatyou have with your team, with
(09:32):
your department, with theorganization, and you stop
over-functioning and you startowning your lane.
When I started owning my lane, Iblew up.
I moved to the nextorganization.
I was a manager.
I went from being a manager toa director in less than 90 days
(09:52):
and then I just kept growingfrom there and I contribute it
all to the fact that I decidedto show up different.
Now it doesn't mean that I didnot work hard I did but it means
that I worked smarter.
It wasn't about staying allnight.
(10:12):
It wasn't about heads downdoing my work and hoping that
someone would recognize me.
It was about showing up andletting everybody see the value
that I bring.
And letting everybody see thevalue that I bring.
It was about confidence andclarity in my capabilities, in
my team's capabilities.
So it just looked differently.
(10:38):
So definitely a myth that youthink that you have to stay in
this state of proving yourselfand validating yourself.
And the quicker you make thattransition, the quicker you're
going to see a change, not justin you, but in your team and in
the people around you, how theylook at you, how they treat you.
Everything just starts to openup.
And I will say this there aregoing to be some situations
(11:01):
where, no matter what you do,you may not feel valued and you
have to make the decision to dowhat's best for you.
All right.
So myth number three let's moveon.
Myth number three being busymeans being productive.
There are some of us that arestill in this right.
Just because your calendar isfilled does not mean that you
(11:25):
have been productive.
I do time management workshopsand that's one of the biggest
things I try to convey toleaders and business owners.
It's not how many tasks you doduring the day, it's not how
many meetings you attend.
What it is about is what you'reactually getting done.
If your schedule is full,you're actually getting done.
If your schedule is full butyour results are flat or
(11:49):
non-existent, then you're notproductive.
You're just being busy, andthis hustle culture has
convinced a lot of leaders thatmotion equals progress.
But in reality, busyness is nota badge of honor.
It's a warning sign.
It's a warning sign.
It's a warning sign that youneed to do something different
(12:10):
and you have to be reallyconscious of what you are
spending your time on.
As a leader of a high performingteam, you don't just do more
right.
You don't just get more thingsdone.
You focus on doing what mattersand you guide your team to
(12:33):
focus on doing what matters.
That means that you're workingwith clear systems, you're
setting real priorities right,so you have a goal.
Your team knows what that goalis, everybody knows what
direction you're going in andyou are setting everything up so
(12:53):
that you are all going in thesame direction and you're
creating a space to thinkstrategically.
So think about this.
Productivity is about alignment.
It's not about activity.
If you're busy and you're notbuilding, if you're not meeting
milestones, if you're notgetting the right things done,
(13:16):
then something needs to shift.
You need to go back to thebeginning.
What is the goal for me and myteam?
Is the goal for me and my team?
How does every single personalign with that and are we
making progress?
Because you have to bemeasuring these things and if
you are going through the day,like I said, and you are just
(13:38):
showing up but you're not seeingoutcomes and results, then you
go back to the beginning and Ijust want to drop this, because
this happens a lot.
Be mindful of the meetings thatyou go to and how you show up in
those meetings.
A lot of times, meetings arewasteful.
(13:59):
There's no return on investment, there's not even an agenda.
Many times, people show up inmeetings that they didn't even
need to be a part of.
But if they had known what themeeting was about, what the
intended outcome was about, whatthe objective was about asking
a lot of questions about certainmeetings and just going through
(14:21):
your work schedule and lookingand saying here's what I did,
what did I really accomplish?
Did this put me on track toachieving whatever it is that
(14:41):
I'm trying to achieve?
All right, that is myth numberthree being busy does not mean
being productive.
Okay.
Myth number four you can't sayno as a leader.
Now I understand.
When you are new, you got tothinking like how do I say no to
my boss?
If my boss asks me to dosomething, how do I tell them no
(15:04):
?
But many leaders struggle withthis one.
Regardless of where they areWhether you are new, middle
management, upper management alot of leaders struggle with
this one and find it to be achallenge, especially those who
want to be seen as helpful andcollaborative and approachable
(15:25):
and respectful.
So how do you say no, right?
Or should you even say no?
Even say no.
I'm telling you as a leadersomeone that has been in
leadership for 30 plus yearsthat the answer is yes.
At some point you're going tohave to say no, but it's how you
do it right.
So here's what I want you tothink about when you say yes to
(15:52):
everything, you blur yourpriorities, because that means
that your priorities aren'tgetting done.
If you're saying yes toeverything and everyone, and not
only that, you stretch yourenergy too thin.
It's just not feasible.
You can't do it and you make itharder for your team to focus.
You got to keep in mind thatwhen you are building a high
(16:14):
performing team, you have to bemindful of how you guide them
and how you lead them.
So saying no is not a failure.
It's actually a leadershipskill that you have to develop.
Strong leaders know how to sayno with clarity and confidence.
They actually protect theirtime, their vision and their
(16:35):
team's focus.
We're not having our teamsgoing back and forth and doing
all of these things.
And I talk about how youreframe things in episode 29,
mastering the Middle, how tobalance team and leadership
demands.
I talk about how you reframethings, and that's the same
(16:57):
thing.
When it comes to saying no, youhave to be mindful of how you
reframe things.
One of the most beautiful thingsI saw in a leadership meeting
and this had to be like 20 yearsago, but it blew my mind right
we had this CEO and he alwayshad all of these big, bright
(17:19):
ideas and you could look aroundthe room and you could see the
people in the room, I mean fromthe attorney, our financial
staff, our CPAs.
You can look around the roomand you can see people like how
in the heck are we going to dothat?
He was a part of the accountingteam and I really liked the way
(17:40):
he approached it right.
So I realized that he wouldn'tsay no to our CEO.
So everybody else was saying,yeah, we can do it and oh, yeah,
we can make it work and all ofthis.
His take was different.
He did not directly say no, buthe told him what it would take
(18:03):
in order to do it.
It was kind of like, yes, wecould do it, but it's going to
cost a million dollars and Xamount of hours and he would
literally sit there and break itdown, like, yes, we could do it
, but here's what it's gonnatake and here's what we have to
forego.
So he basically told him thefull story and he allowed the
(18:24):
CEO to say, no, oh, I thoughtthat was so brilliant.
I thought that was so brilliantbecause, while everybody else
was kind of like gassing them up, like oh yeah, we can do it
(18:57):
no-transcript.
So I really liked his approachand I find that that is a way of
reframing Right.
So I'm not necessarily sayingno, but I'm saying, ok is your
decision if you want us to godown this path, but here's what
that looks like.
And giving them the full story,because many times I feel like
people don't have the full story.
(19:19):
So there's different situationswhere if your senior leadership
or a client or someone asks youto do something, there's this
reframing that takes place andyou know you provide them with
the information and you allowthem to decide how to move
forward.
And then there's gonna beinstances where it's just no, I
(19:41):
don't have the bandwidth to do X, y and Z, and there's going to
be those times.
You just have to decide whattactic you're going to use, but
it's going to come up whereyou're going to have to say no,
right.
So make sure that you aresaying no to things that don't
align with your goals and youare saying yes to things that
(20:05):
actually matter.
Do X, y, z and you are asked todo something that is outside of
that, that is going to take youaway from that or take you off
track to achieving that goal.
Then you need to make adecision how you say no.
(20:26):
I'm not saying don't say no,just how you say no.
And just think a little bitabout that.
Right, boundaries aren'tselfish, they're structure.
Just think a little bit aboutthat.
Right, boundaries aren'tselfish, they're structure.
And I know that there's timeswhen I've had to say no to my
team.
Maybe I was in the middle ofdoing something and somebody
(20:46):
asked me you know, hey, can Ihave 30 minutes?
And I'm like, yes, but notright now.
So let's schedule some time forthat, because I needed to
complete whatever it was that Iwas working on at that moment.
And many times, as a leader,you'll find that you'll get the
interruptions right, but youhave to condition people.
You can't just show up to mydoor and expect for me to stop
(21:08):
what I'm doing, because whathappens is, if five people do
that throughout the day, thenyou are totally off course with
what it is that you want to do.
If you're able to plan for theday, then you are totally off
course with what it is that youwant to do.
If you're able to plan forthose times, then you want to do
that.
Are there, you know,emergencies or important things
that come up that this rulewouldn't apply?
Absolutely right, you have touse your best judgment, but what
(21:29):
I'm saying is don't be afraidto say no.
Just kind of think about inyour mind how you're going to
say no to some things.
If it's just a flat out no ornot right now, or here's what it
would take to make that happen.
Are you willing to give up thismuch or invest this much and
let them make the decision?
So, boundaries, boundaries,boundaries.
(21:52):
Your leadership needs structurein order to thrive.
Think about how you're going todo that and practice that.
Okay, our last myth, myth numberfive.
I dealt with this one early onin leadership as well.
Doing it all yourself is theonly way to get it done right.
How many of you have thoughtthis?
(22:13):
I'm not going to give it tosomebody or a delegate because
my boss gave it to me and I wantit to be right and it can't be
messed up.
And this one kind of sneaks upon us high achievers and
founders especially when youbelieve no one can do it like
you, you stop delegating and youhold on to every task and
(22:36):
eventually you actually becomethe bottleneck for your team and
your business.
But leadership isn't aboutcontrol, it's about capacity.
You cannot grow into the leaderthat your business or
organization or your team needsif you're buried in the weeds.
You have to learn how todelegate.
(22:57):
So delegation it's not aboutdon't think of it as about
dumping, because when it's doneright, it's not dumping, it's
not just getting things off yourplate.
It's about building your team'sconfidence and confidence and
then also building your capacityto take on higher level things.
(23:18):
You have to be able to trustyour team with responsibility
and give them the opportunity torise to the occasion.
And yes, there's a way that youshould delegate right.
You don't just give somethingto somebody and don't explain it
, and you know things like that.
So, yeah, absolutely, there isa way that you you delegate.
(23:41):
So I actually have an episodeon that as well, and it's called
Delegation Tactics for ElevatedTeam Performance, and this is
about delegating in a way thatis effective and it makes sense
for you, but not just for you,but for your team as well.
So that's episode 23.
(24:03):
You may want to go back andlisten to that, but the thing
about it is is that 70% ofleaders find delegation
challenging.
So you're not alone.
You are definitely not alone,but in order for you to continue
to grow as a leader and inorder for your team to continue
(24:24):
to grow and become the highperforming team that you want
them to be, then you're going tohave to be really good at
delegating.
You have to release in order torise, because if not, you're
going to be weighted down andthat you're not going to be able
to not just go to the nextlevel.
So it's not just about I wantto be promoted from supervisor
(24:47):
to manager, manager to director.
It's not just about that.
It's about you growing as aperson and you growing as a
leader, and all of this needs tohappen in order for you to show
up as the best version ofyourself in this leadership role
.
So that, my friends, that'smyth number five.
(25:07):
So those are the five myths thatI wanted to share with you
today, and I know that this wenta little longer than I thought,
but hopefully you find ithelpful.
So let's just recap reallyquickly.
Number one you do not need tohave all of the answers.
Your job is to guide, providesupport, not to solve all of the
(25:30):
problems, but to facilitatethat conversation.
You don't need to proveyourself.
So you want to move fromproving to positioning, and move
from a state of needing to bevalidated to showing up and
showing your value.
Number three being busy isn'tproductive.
(25:50):
Make sure that you get alignedwith what actually moves the
needle.
Number four saying no is notselfish.
It's actually strategic andit's going to keep you on point
and aligned.
Number five doing it allyourself is not efficient.
It's actually exhausting andit's holding you and your team
(26:13):
back.
So these myths may soundfamiliar, they may even feel
like the truth, but they'reholding you back from leading
with intention, clarity andimpact.
The good news is is that youcan break free from them.
You don't have to stay in thisplace.
You can rewrite your leadershipstory starting today, right now
(26:35):
.
All right.
So thanks for joining me onLeveraging Operations in
Leadership podcast.
If this episode resonated withyou, do me a favor share it with
another leader who might becarrying these myths too.
And if you're ready to leadfrom a place of strategy and
strength, make sure you'resubscribed to my team navigator
(26:57):
newsletter, where I drop monthlytools and insights to help you
lead smarter, not harder.
Until next time, lead well,operate with intention.
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