My manager says I need to spend more time developing my team. But if I do that, I won’t have time to do my real work. How do I balance both?

This is one of the most common concerns I hear from leaders, and it often stems from a misconception about the role of leadership.

Many leaders believe their job is to complete work. In reality, their primary job is to develop people who can manage the work.

When leaders spend all their time solving problems, making decisions, and executing tasks, they become the bottleneck. The more responsibility they take on, the less opportunity their team has to learn and grow. Ironically, trying to save time today often creates more work tomorrow.

Instead, consider this mindset shift: Do less. Lead more.

One way to do this is through Ken Blachard’s Situational Leadership model. Rather than managing everyone the same way, adjust your leadership style based on the employee’s competence and confidence:

• Direct when someone is new to a task and needs clear guidance.
• Coach when they are learning but still need support and direction.
• Support when they have the skills but need encouragement or confidence.
• Delegate when they are capable and ready to work independently.

You will want to provide regular feedback as you move people through these stages. Effective feedback is most successful when it focuses on observable behaviors and future improvement rather than perceptions.

A simple approach is to:

1. State the facts
2. State the impact the behavior has on the situation or the organization
3. Ask for the person’s perspective and fully listen to the response with an open mind
4. Explain desired change and get agreement on next steps

For example, imagine an employee consistently submits project updates after the agreed-upon deadline. You might say:

“The last three project updates were submitted two days after the deadline. When updates are late, it makes it difficult for the team to coordinate work and provide accurate information to our clients. What is getting in the way of meeting the agreed upon deadline?”

After listening, you can discuss solutions, agree on next steps, and clarify expectations moving forward. Notice that effective feedback is not about criticizing people. It is about discussing observable behaviors, understanding perspectives, and working together toward a solution.

Remember: your success as a leader is not measured by how much work you do yourself. It is measured by how much your team can accomplish without you.