Moving into leadership often brings an interesting change.
What helped you get into your new role may not be what helps you succeed in it.
Perhaps you spent years being very good at your profession. You knew the answers. You could solve problems. People came to you for advice.
And suddenly you lead a team that includes experts who know more than you in certain areas.
For a new leader, that may not be easy.
Because a thought can arise:
If I am supposed to lead them, shouldn't I know more than they do?
No, you shouldn't.
Your job is no longer to know everything
A leader does not need to know more than every person on their team.
And certainly does not need to have an answer to every question.
They can still earn respect and trust.
Because people do not only notice what you know.
They also notice whether they can rely on you.
Whether you honour what you have agreed.
Whether you listen to them, even when they have a different opinion.
Whether you can say “I don't know”.
Whether you feel threatened by their expertise.
And whether you give them room to do things differently from the way you would.
What happens when a leader always needs to have the answer?
They may start giving it before they even ask their team.
Someone comes with a problem — the leader solves it.
Someone is unsure — the leader decides.
Someone suggests a different approach — the leader explains how they would do it.
In the short term, this can seem efficient.
The work gets done. A decision is made. The problem is solved.
But the team may learn something quite different:
When I don't know, I go to the boss.
When I have a problem, the boss will solve it.
When I have an idea, I need their approval first.
And the leader may gradually find themselves in exactly the situation they wanted to escape.
Everything lands on their desk.
People wait for their decisions.
And they feel that the team cannot function without them.
Trust works both ways
Trust in a team does not arise only from people trusting their leader.
The leader also needs to show that they trust them.
Their expertise.
Their judgement.
Their ability to find solutions.
And that they will sometimes do things differently from the way the leader would.
This does not mean giving up responsibility.
It means distinguishing between a situation in which the team needs the leader's decision and one in which it primarily needs room to act.
Instead of immediately saying:
“Do it this way.”
There can sometimes be:
“How would you solve it?”
“What do you suggest?”
“What do you need from me?”
A small change in the question.
A big change in who takes responsibility for the solution.
“I don't know” does not have to weaken authority
For some leaders, one of the hardest things to say is:
“I don't know.”
They worry that it will cost them their authority.
But pretending to be certain when we are not does not necessarily strengthen trust.
Sometimes, quite the opposite.
A leader can simply say:
“I don't know. Let's look into it.”
Or:
“You have more experience in this area than I do. What is your perspective?”
That does not diminish their role.
It shows that they do not need to prove their worth by being the greatest expert in every area.
And it gives their team a very important message:
It is okay not to know. It is okay to ask questions. It is okay to bring a different opinion.
Trust does not come from a leader knowing everything
It also comes from their team not having to pretend to know everything.
From people being able to speak up.
Ask questions.
Disagree.
Bring a better solution.
Point out a mistake.
And know that their leader does not need to be the best in the room to be able to lead them.
That is why one of the important shifts when moving into leadership is this:
Stop proving everything I know and start creating the conditions in which others can show what they know too.
And perhaps, as a leader, you can ask yourself a simple question:
The next time someone comes to me with a problem, do I really need to give them an answer — or can I help them find their own?
Do you lead people?
In the Leadership programme, we explore the real situations your role brings — decision-making and responsibility, communication and challenging situations, leading people, delegation, priorities and pressure.
The aim is not to teach you one “right” way to lead.
It is to find your own way of leading that works for both you and your team.