There is a moment in every senior leader’s career when you have to make a shift.
You get promoted into the VP role, the most senior seat in your organization, and the very thing that got you there stops working. The expertise that built your career becomes the thing standing in your way. How can you let go of the knowing so you can move into being?
Harvard Business School professor Linda Hill studies leadership for innovation at companies like Volkswagen, Pixar, and Google. Her research points to a major shift away from the leader being the source and the star to becoming the architect. The architect does not walk in already knowing. The architect asks. What do you see from where you sit? How do we navigate this together? The architect’s job is to draw out the best thinking at the table and organize it into a coherent whole, so the vision, plan, and execution belong to the whole team.
It is less about me. It is more about we.
I learned this the hard way in my own coach training. My mentor coach told me I was good at recommending the right book or insight at just the right moment. Then she said she wanted me to give all of that up and become the coach who does not know anything. I felt completely found out. I was reaching for what felt safe and familiar instead of being fully present for the person in front of me. I still carry her words with me.
The same shift is available to you as you move from director to AVP to VP. What if not knowing became an asset instead of a deficit? Not because you stop bringing your judgment, knowledge, and expertise, but because you move beyond needing to have all the answers.
If this is the shift to VP leadership you are making now or expect to make soon, I would love to hear where you are in it. Reply to this email, or let’s find time to talk.
