I once worked for a leader who would try to keep me out of important conversations, ask me not to speak up before him in meetings, and shut down any new idea I had that contradicted his own. This happened about 10 years ago when I was still in the United States Marine Corps, and it’s partially why I decided to get out. I felt undervalued, bored, and I knew I had more potential than what I was allowed to show. It turns out a lot of leaders are like this—not just those in the Marine Corps. I’ve realized that most leaders operate this way out of fear, not malice; they’re trying to preserve themselves, not hurt you.

Think about how most leaders got promoted or noticed in the first place. Odds are, it was because of their technical ability. And when they became leaders, they continued to use their expertise to craft their identity as leaders. They become someone that the team could rely on for answers, and they were happy to be seen as the subject-matter expert. But when that identity becomes threatened, they go into preservation mode, actively hiding anyone on the team who might have more knowledge, experience, or expertise.

I was 22 years old when I got out of the Marine Corps, and I immediately started working as a warehouse supervisor on second shift just 2 months after I signed my discharge papers. I was the one person “in charge” of the entire shift of about 20 people, and most of them were twice my age or older. They’d been driving forklifts and loading trailers since before I was born. And I had no idea how to drive a forklift. Yet here I was, put in charge of this team with zero knowledge of how a warehouse works.

Now, you’re probably wondering how I got that job. The operations manager at this warehouse happened to be a 20-year Army veteran. A retired first sergeant who latched onto my recent military experience and offered me a job I was completely unqualified for.

I didn’t have any choice but to learn from my team. I was the only leader in the building from 5 pm to 10 pm each night. Every decision, every incident, every concern was my responsibility to deal with. I started shadowing my workers. I told them very candidly, “I have no idea what I’m doing, but I need to learn.” I started by learning how to do each individual job, and I also learned a lot about my people through that shadowing process.

I think it was easy for me to ask for help because I very clearly knew I wasn’t the subject-matter expert. It’s a lot harder for experienced leaders to lead experts because they have to give up the role of subject-matter expert. You have to relinquish the reins of being the expert when you choose to become a leader.

I was forced into learning from my people at 22 years old because I had no other choice. But experienced leaders will have a choice, and they should choose to be vulnerable, ask questions, and learn from their employees. Your job isn’t to have the answer to every question or problem; your job is to create the conditions where people can learn from others, share knowledge, and work together as a team committed to the same mission.

Leading people with more knowledge, experience, or expertise than you is always a good thing for the team as a whole. A team is sorely underdeveloped if the leader is the smartest person in the room. A leader’s performance is measured by how much more effective they make their team, not how many times they had the right answer.

Until next time,

Rick