The other day, I told you about Ted – the bank president who took the initiative to go through files no one else was willing to touch and it got him noticed (in a good way).

Now, fast-forward five years into his position as president of the bank. He’s struggling with a new set of challenges that many leaders reading this can probably relate to. If you can’t relate, with time you’ll probably encounter these obstacles yourself. One of the biggest challenges we confront as leaders, and Ted was no exception, is the tendency to get caught up in the trenches – to do all the day-to-day grunt work or technical tasks that got us to the leadership position we’re at today.

But when we focus so much on the small elements, don’t we lose the big picture? We could, after all, be focusing on strategic direction or initiatives to help our organization grow. Instead, we’re focusing on the daily operations, allowing ourselves to get sucked into processes that distract us from the things that  — truly – only we can accomplish.

There are two factors that hold us back from being the leaders our organizations need us to be:

1. We play the martyr. By that, we think: “I don’t want my employees to do anything I wouldn’t do.” So we roll up our sleeves and work with everyone else on the daily duties at hand. We show that we’re “present,” thinking that will endear us to our crew and keep us involved and grounded.
2. We’re afraid of change. Of course, it’s easier to do what you know. But it can be hard to get out of your comfort zone and take on things, like vision casting, or business development, or sales, that you’re not accustomed to. Don’t sacrifice your time and energy “playing it safe”. Invest your best self into those tasks that only you can do best for your organization.

 With time, Ted has learned how to resist these urges. And he has managed to impart some wisdom along the way. He likens the “martyr”-type leader to this bizarre scenario: Imagine Tom Osborne (for those non-Huskers and the non-football-inclined out there, he’s the legendary Nebraska football coach) down in the trenches or, more specifically, down in the laundry room with the equipment managers tasked with washing the players’ uniforms. Do you think anyone would admire this great coach for that? I doubt it. Most people would wonder what the heck he was doing down there. After all, his time and abilities are much more productively applied against more critical tasks.

In other words, just because it’s an essential function of your business or your organization doesn’t mean you should be doing it. Your days of doing those functions are over. There are others to handle those responsibilities. It also doesn’t mean that, by taking on this approach, you’ll suddenly be out of touch with your team. On the contrary, you’re leading with strength.

You understand your role, and you’re secure enough to know that you have nothing to prove on this front.

People want and need real leaders. They don’t need more assistant clerks or equipment managers, when they or their colleagues are more than capable of handling these tasks. But that takes intentionality, and courage. So go for it!