Still in the Weeds? These 5 Shifts Signal You’re Ready to Lead Differently.

5 shifts senior execs make to scale their impact and reclaim strategy.

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TL;DR

If your calendar’s overloaded and your week feels like triage, you may be stuck in execution when you should be leading at altitude.

Here are 5 powerful shifts senior leaders make to:

• Signal enterprise-level leadership
• Scale their impact
• Reclaim strategic traction

(And if you're watching one of your team leaders get stuck here, this is the moment to intervene—with coaching, not headcount.)

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You’ve got the title, the seat at the table, and the results to back it up.

So why does your week still feel like triage?

→Fielding questions your team should own.
→Sitting in meetings that don’t need your brain.
→Weighing in three layers down.

This isn’t a time management issue.
It’s a leadership inflection point.

If you’re a high-performing VP, SVP, or biotech exec, this might hit uncomfortably close to home.

Not because you’re unaware—but because you’ve spent years building your reputation by getting it done.

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The Deeper Problem: Doing More Doesn’t Scale

At your level, being the person who “just gets it done” doesn’t build credibility. It erodes it.

• Your team holds back—assuming you’ll jump in.

• Your peers stop looping you in—assuming you’re too deep in execution to shape strategy.

• Your CEO starts to wonder: Can this leader scale—or have they hit their ceiling?

You’ve reached the point where your own leadership approach is the constraint.

You can’t keep doing it all—not without burning out, stalling your team, or becoming the bottleneck.

That means shifting:

From doing → directing
From filling gaps → designing systems
From being critical → being catalytic

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This Isn’t About Getting Things Off Your Plate.

It’s about redefining what your plate is for.

Senior leadership isn’t about covering more ground. It’s about ensuring the ground you cover has strategic weight.

Every time you step in to “help,” you trade visibility for utility. And the cost compounds.

(Execs—if one of your leaders always sounds overwhelmed and understaffed—it’s worth asking: is this really a bandwidth issue? Or a leadership model that doesn’t scale?)

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5 Leadership Shifts That Signal “I Operate at the Enterprise Level”

These aren't just habits.

They're signals—and they change how your time gets used, and how your leadership is perceived.

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1. Ditch the “Quick Touch Base”

It’s rarely quick. And often, it’s a sign something’s unclear.

“Quick touch base” is often code for:

We’re not aligned on who owns what.

Often, it’s also a sign your team doesn’t know how confident they need to be before moving.

Try this instead:

“If you’ve aligned with X and Y, go ahead. You don’t need to pull me in.”

This sets expectations, models trust, and protects your time for real lift.

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2. Only Weigh In at Your Altitude

If a Director owns the plan, your job isn’t to tweak the deck.
It’s to:

• Clarify priorities

• Connect dots across functions

• Define success at the enterprise level

When you dive too deep, you don’t just waste time—you blur accountability.

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3. Let Them Stretch—Then Coach the Recovery

This one’s hard. Especially if you're high-empathy and high-performance.

You want to protect your team. But shielding them from stretch moments? That blocks their growth—and yours.

Let them lead. Let them stumble. Then coach.

TRUE STORY:

In my first exec role, fresh out of McKinsey, I made a classic misstep.

I recommended cutting a legacy program—high cost, low ROI. My analysis was airtight.

What I missed? The emotional weight that program carried.

It anchored important stakeholders. It had storytelling power.

I walked into a committee meeting to share the decision—and got crucified.

Looking back, my boss (Pam—a phenomenal mentor) had tried to warn me.

But she let me walk into it—on purpose. Because she knew that lesson would land deeper than anything she could’ve told me.

She was right. And she made sure I understood why—so I could recover quickly and never make the same mistake twice.

That mistake has saved me more times than I can count.

And now? I share it with every leader I coach.

✨ Pro-Tip: Coaching the recovery lands best when you’ve already considered the emotional tone you’re setting.

Before a big meeting—or a stretch moment—ask yourself:
How do I want them to feel walking out of this room?
→ I unpack this more in this related post on emotional tone in leadership.

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4. Narrate the Why—Then Step Out

Don’t just skip the meeting. Say why you’re skipping it.

Try this:

“I’m not joining because I want you to lead it. You don’t need my voice in the room to validate your decision.”

Your absence isn’t neglect.
It’s a signal of trust.

And it gives others the space to step into their own leadership.

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5. Track What Only You Can Move

Simple—but powerful.

Once a week, scan your calendar and ask:

How many hours did I spend moving work forward that only I can move?

That number should rise over time.

If it’s flat—or shrinking—you’re in the weeds.
Or you’re absorbing gaps that need to be solved, not carried.

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Why It’s Hard to See This From the Inside

These shifts feel risky. Especially if you're someone who leads fast, shows up fully, and delivers reliably.

Yes, you can solve the problem.
Yes, you have the context.

But that’s not the job anymore.

And yet...

If you keep showing up as the solver,
you never get seen as the strategist.

That’s the trap.

These shifts don’t happen by accident. They start with one intentional decision—what will yours be?

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These shifts don’t just change how you lead.
They change what your leadership makes possible.
If you’re ready to step into that, I’d love to help.

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