Rao was an outstanding individual contributor in cyber security. His technical depth was the reason he was promoted into leadership. It also became the reason his promotion nearly broke him.
He was still trying to solve every technical problem his group faced. "Easier to do it myself than explain it to someone else," he told me. His team felt micro-managed. He was on track to burn out.
Rao isn't unusual. Gallup's State of the Global Workplace 2026 finds that 70% of the variance in team engagement comes down to one variable: the manager. Not pay. Not industry. Not company brand. Engaged teams stay. Disengaged teams leave.
Rao's light bulb moment came when he realised he could not keep being the only one solving problems and stay in the role. He reinvented his superpower. "Getting the best from the people around me" became his new problem to solve. He wrote a personal charter to lock it in. The first line at the top: "My job is to help others create a new future."
The question he now asks himself isn't "Am I performing?" It is "Are the people around me performing because of me?" That shift has made Rao a sought-after leader.
If Rao's story sounds familiar, start small. Pick one conversation this week where you ask the question instead of giving the answer. The shift is built one conversation at a time.
The kind of winning worth wanting is the kind where the careers around you take off, and you are the launchpad. That is the climb up the Influence Curve, from technical expert to influential leader.
Who in your career most made you feel like they were in your corner?
P.S. Not sure where you sit on the Influence Curve? Take the free 3-minute diagnostic.
Best regards, Brian