The Best Leaders I Know Do Less, Not More
Leadership isn't about doing more. It's about creating the conditions where others can do their best.
I used to measure my leadership by how much I did.
First one in. Last one out. Hands in everything. Solving every problem. Responding to every text. Jumping in whenever something went sideways.
I thought that's what good leaders did: they worked harder than everyone else.
Then I noticed something strange: the leaders I most respected didn't operate that way at all.
They seemed... calm. Present. Like they had space to actually think.
And their teams? Their teams were crushing it.
It took me years to figure out what they knew that I didn't: leadership isn't about doing more. It's about creating the conditions where others can do their best.
Busy Isn't the Same as Effective
Here's what I was actually doing when I thought I was leading:
Solving problems my team could solve themselves (and stealing their growth in the process)
Creating dependency instead of capability
Sending the message that I didn't trust them to handle things
Burning myself out while building a team that waited for me to fix everything
I wasn't leading. I was micromanaging with good intentions.
The leaders I admired? They were doing something completely different. They were clearing obstacles, asking questions, building systems, and then, this was the part that scared me, getting out of the way.
Subtraction Leadership: What to Stop Doing
If you want to lead better, start by doing less of these things:
1. Stop solving every problem. When someone brings you a problem, resist the urge to fix it immediately. Ask: "What do you think we should do?" or "What have you already tried?" Let them think it through. Your job isn't to have all the answers - it's to build people who can find answers.
2. Stop being the only decision-maker. Give real authority, not fake empowerment. Let your supervisors make scheduling decisions. Let your leads handle guest recovery up to a certain amount. Let your team set their own break rotations. Then trust them. If they mess up, coach them. But let them learn by doing, not by watching you do it.
3. Stop filling every silence. In meetings, after you ask a question, wait. Count to ten if you have to. Let the discomfort sit. The best ideas often come after the awkward pause, not during your monologue. Your team has answers—they just need space to offer them.
4. Stop being available 24/7. Your constant availability isn't helping your team - it's training them to be helpless. Set boundaries. Let them figure things out without you sometimes. They're more capable than you're giving them credit for. And you're more exhausted than you're admitting.
5. Stop hoarding information. Share context, not just tasks. Explain the "why" behind decisions. Let people see the bigger picture. When your team understands the constraints and goals, they make better decisions. When they're just following orders, they wait to be told what to do next.
What to Do Instead
Lead by subtraction, then add back only what matters:
Create clarity (vision, values, standards)
Remove obstacles (bad processes, unclear policies, unnecessary rules)
Ask better questions (see blog post #1)
Celebrate progress (name what's working, not just what's broken)
Protect your team's time and energy (say no to things that don't serve the mission)
The best leaders I know aren't the busiest.
They're the ones who've figured out that their job is to build people, not do everything.
Try doing less this week. You might be surprised by what your team does with the space.
