When Being the Most Reliable Leader Becomes a Liability

One of my clients, "Laura," a senior executive at a large organization, recently confessed, "I'm tired of being the person everyone depends on."

Her recently appointed manager was too busy managing politics, fighting turf wars and trying to prove himself. Processes broke down often. And every time something went wrong, all eyes turned to her, the one who could make things right. Over time, her competence became the system's safety net. The more she fixed, the less anyone else had to properly do.

However, as her reliability increased, so did the risk. The influence she had worked so hard to build began to erode, not because she had become any less effective, but because she was caught in the middle. She was labeled overreaching and too intense, yet everything she did was required to keep the system afloat. "I keep fixing things and helping my manager look good," she said. "And I'm tired of it."

Please select this link to read the complete article from Harvard Business Review.