The Best Leadership I Ever Gave Was When I Stopped Trying To Lead

Updated: May 5

Early in my career, I thought being a leader meant having all the answers. Driving the roadmap. Setting the pace.

But the real turning point came when I embraced servant leadership.

It meant flipping the script:

Instead of pushing engineers to move faster, I cleared the blockers they didn’t have the authority to remove.
Instead of dictating architecture, I asked questions that helped the team arrive at stronger designs.
Instead of guarding information, I made transparency the default.

The irony?

When I stopped trying to "lead," the team moved faster, thought deeper, and took more ownership.

Servant leadership isn’t passive.

It’s intentional, quiet power. It’s making sure others have what they need to succeed—and getting out of the way when they do.

Founders, VPs, team leads: if your team isn’t thriving, start by asking, “How can I serve them better?”

It changes everything.