Your Team Is Not Lucky to Have You, You’re Lucky They Haven’t Quit Yet
Look, I’m glad you’re proud of your role. That’s great. You probably worked hard to get here.
But if you start believing your team is “lucky to have you,” let me stop you right there.
You’ve got it backwards.
They show up every day. They put up with broken processes, half-baked roadmaps, Slack chaos, and, let’s be honest, you.
You are not their savior. You are not their career’s highlight reel.
They are not lucky.
You are.
The Myth of the “Hero Leader”
Corporate culture loves to romanticize leadership like you’re leading a band of hobbits into Mordor. You're not. You're just guiding a bunch of very smart, very tired professionals through another sprint planning.
You are not a hero for being in meetings all day.
You are not a visionary because you used “synergy” in a slide deck.
You are not irreplaceable. Neither am I. No one is.
So drop the ego and pick up some humility.
What Real Leadership Looks Like
It’s not about being the smartest in the room.
It’s about creating space for others to shine.
It’s about:
- Deflecting praise and redirecting it to the team that earned it
- Owning the failures so your people aren’t thrown under the bus
- Listening when they say they’re burnt out, frustrated, or confused
- Saying thank you more than once a quarter
The best leaders don’t see themselves as above the team, they see themselves as because of the team.
Signs You’re Leading With Ego
- You take credit for team wins
- You act like coaching is a chore, not a responsibility
- You downplay burnout or wave off PTO requests
- You think “they should be lucky to have a job”
If that’s you, I’m not saying you’re the villain. But you might be the reason someone’s updating their LinkedIn profile this week.
Gratitude > Arrogance
Real leaders know gratitude isn’t weakness.
It’s strength.
It keeps people around.
It makes work bearable, even meaningful.
Because at the end of the day, your team doesn’t owe you loyalty. They owe you their work. If you want more than that, respect, commitment, innovation, than you’d better earn it. Every damn day.
Your team isn’t lucky to have you.
You’re lucky they still believe in the work enough to stay.
Lead accordingly.
Lead. Don't Ctrl.
