Developing People Is the Surest Way to Grow as a Leader

When I first moved to the UK, work started at nine and I was at my desk by seven. I stayed late whenever anyone asked me to, and often when no one did. I pushed hard through the day to see more cases than anyone else — enough that my numbers were never in question, even if the quality was sometimes only okay rather than brilliant. I took on extra work, worked weekends, and said yes to everything. I was determined to prove I could add value.

And what did all that effort earn me? A short secondment that didn't last, no promotion, and eventually a return to my old job. No one above me was moving, so there was nowhere for me to go. I had outworked everyone in the building and ended up exactly where I started.

Looking back, I understand why. Outworking people only takes you so far.

As you move into leadership, your success is no longer measured by what you achieve on your own. It is measured by what your team achieves. The leaders who progress are the ones who build capable teams that consistently deliver excellent work. They don't try to be the smartest or hardest-working person in the room. They invest in the people around them.

Most people want to do work that means something, and many want to grow — though not always in the ways you might assume. Part of a leader's job is to find out what development actually looks like for each person, rather than deciding it for them. That means coaching, delegating work that matters, giving people real responsibility, and trusting them to succeed.

When you try to do everything yourself, you become the bottleneck. Your team becomes dependent on you, succession planning becomes difficult, and the organisation carries risk it doesn't need to.

But I won't pretend the alternative is easy, or fast. Developing people is slower than doing the work yourself, at least at first — teaching someone always takes longer than simply doing the task. You have to hand over work that matters and let people make mistakes on it, which is uncomfortable when the outcome carries real weight. You have to let go of being the most capable person in the room, which is hard when that capability is exactly what you were once rewarded for. And there is always the risk that you pour into someone and they move on, taking everything you gave them with them.

All of that is true. And it is still the right thing to do.

Leadership is built on relationships, and relationships take time to grow. There is no shortcut. But when you do invest in your people, something changes. Capability grows across the team rather than sitting with one person. Trust builds. People take ownership. Results improve — and they keep improving whether or not you are in the room. You create future leaders, and you free yourself to focus on strategy, vision, and the bigger picture instead of being caught in the day-to-day.

Leadership is not about proving how capable you are.

Leadership is about helping others become as capable as they can be.

That is slower, harder, and less glamorous than being the hero who does it all. It is also the only version that lasts — and the one that leaves you ready for whatever comes next.