Thought I had to fix everything for my team at work, but a note from a coworker changed my mind.

I was staying late again, redoing a report from our new guy in accounting, when I found a sticky note on my monitor that said 'We can handle it, Charlie.' It was from him. I'd been taking over tasks to 'save time' but was just stopping people from learning. How do you step back without feeling like you're dropping the ball?

3 comments

3 Comments

knight.mason1mo ago

Letting the team catch it" is exactly right. You were playing goalie when they just needed a coach on the sidelines. The ball was always theirs to carry.

knight.mason1mo ago

Honestly I used to be the same way, but that note is a real wake up call. You're not dropping the ball, you're finally letting the team catch it.

ray18911d ago

Yeah but @knight.mason I gotta push back a little on the "goalie" thing. See I think you were actually doing exactly what a good accountant does (sorry not sorry for the work reference). You were holding onto the ball because the system needed someone to own the final check. But here's the thing - the goalie analogy doesn't quite work because a goalie is supposed to stop everything that comes their way, you know? They're the last line of defense. What you're describing is more like being a point guard who finally realized they got shooters on the wings. You weren't defending anything, you were just the only one willing to take the shot. The real shift isn't letting go of the ball, it's trusting that your teammates can actually dribble without tripping over their own feet. That's a different kind of scary honestly.