Scott McCarthy [00:00:00]:
If your team’s stuck, your growth is flatlined and you feel like you’re grinding harder, but going absolutely nowhere. There’s a good chance that the bottleneck is actually you. That’s right. Today we’re talking about the hard truth that most leaders don’t want to admit. You can be your biggest obstacle. But you know what? Here’s the good news. I’m gonna let you know. You can also fix it.

Scott McCarthy [00:00:32]:
And that’s this week on the performance leadership podcast. Are you ready for this? Alright. Let’s do it. Welcome one. Welcome all to the Peak Performance Leadership Podcast, a weekly podcast series dedicated to helping you hit peak performance across the three domains of leadership. Those being leading yourself, leading your team, and leading your organization. This podcast couples my twenty years of military experience as a senior Canadian army officer with world class guests bringing you the most complete podcast of leadership going. And for more, feel free to check out our website at movingforwardleadership.com.

Scott McCarthy [00:01:24]:
And with that, let’s get to the show. Yes. Welcome one, welcome all. It is your chief leadership officer, Scott McCarthy. Thanks for tuning into this week’s episode. It’s gonna be a solo episode this week. I feel like just getting behind the mic by myself right now for a bit. And you know what? That’s okay because that’s a beauty podcast.

Scott McCarthy [00:01:57]:
I can do whatever the heck I want, as long as you fine folks tell me you like it, which from my hair is you enjoy the mix between myself, my thoughts, my ideas, and the world class guests that we have on the show on the regular. So we’re gonna keep mixing it up here for you. And this week, we’re talking about the leadership bottleneck. And that’s basically how you’re sabotaging your own growth. Okay? Alright. And, you know, this is such a common theme. I hear across leaders across basically the globe saying this very similar thing, which they come to realization. And it’s unfortunately generally after something bad has happened that, you know what, they’ve been in their own way.

Scott McCarthy [00:02:52]:
They’ve been in their team’s way and it’s not because of the team, it’s not because of the product, it’s not because of other management or what other excuse you might come up with. It is because they are getting in their own way. And you have to recognize that. And you gotta recognize it because you gotta realize that you can’t scale leadership when everything filters through you. And that’s one of the first things that I think as leaders that we need to understand that we can’t be the filter. We can’t be constantly fighting fires and dealing with every single thing. If you’re not sure that you’re in that stage right now where everything filters through you, here are just some of the common signs, just a few of them that may indicate that you are filtering everything. If you feel like you’re constantly firefighting instead of planning forward.

Scott McCarthy [00:04:08]:
Other words, if you’re being consistently reactive vice being proactive, you may be in a bottleneck. If you have the inability to delegate beyond simple mundane tasks, you’re still being the decisional bottleneck. If your team doesn’t take initiative because they’re waiting on you, You got it. You might be in a bottleneck. And then you if you complain about bandwidth but reject help or feedback, that is a sure sign that you’re being a bottleneck. So what I want you to think about right now is ask yourself the following question. What do I believe only I can do that I’ve never actually tested giving away? Alright. Let me say that again.

Scott McCarthy [00:05:15]:
What do I believe only I can do that I’ve never actually tested given away? Because let’s dive into each one of these common signs right now. And, you know, I’ve talked about the reactivity or constantly firefighting instead of being proactive. Right? Us as leaders, we need to be proactive. We can’t be reactive. We have to get ahead of the game. Let’s get ahead of the curve. Get ahead of the trend. We have to be being be proactive.

Scott McCarthy [00:05:55]:
It means getting ahead. And if you’re finally if you’re constantly in that firefighting mode, then that means you’re not being proactive. You’re being very reactive. And it’s very easy to basically say stay in that zone. Why? Because we actually get comfortable in reactive zone. We don’t have to take time to think, to assess. You know, everything comes to us. We’re being reactive to the things that are around us, and we get comfortable with that because it’s easy, but it’s not because we’re not getting ahead.

Scott McCarthy [00:06:35]:
We’re just constantly spinning our tires, constantly running from one fire to the next. And sometimes that is, you know, based on the second common sign, which is your ability to delegate beyond task. And if you’re just simply telling your people, say, hey, fill this TPS report, Do this thing here. Do this thing here. Without giving them vision, without giving them intent, without enabling them actual decision making authority, then you’re actually not delegating. You’re just tasking. Let’s be honest. And that means all decisions still come to you because your inability to actually delegate meaningfully.

Scott McCarthy [00:07:24]:
And then that, the next thing will double down on it and becomes if a, an effect of your ability to delegate beyond tasks. Your team doesn’t take initiative. Why? Because they they know you’re just gonna tell them what to do anyway. And they’re just waiting on you. Just waiting for you. And then finally, you get to the point and you’re gonna see now the linkage to all these common signs. It’s the point where you’re just like, you know what, I’m just gonna do it myself. Sure.

Scott McCarthy [00:08:00]:
Go ahead. Take care of the meaningless t p s reports, but the things that matter, I’m just gonna do it myself because I only I can do it right. Only I can do I know how to do this. I know if I do it, I’ll do it right the way I want it, the best way possible, and and the team can do other things. Do hey, boss. You want some help with that? No. No. It’s okay.

Scott McCarthy [00:08:26]:
I got this. Don’t worry. You take care of the TPS report. I got this project here. Don’t worry. It’s okay. Does that sound familiar? Because let me tell you, it sounds familiar to me because I’ve been there. And it sounds familiar to me because I help leaders get through this.

Scott McCarthy [00:08:46]:
So let’s talk about why you’re doing this and why as us as leaders, we do this to ourselves. Alright? Because, yes, we do it to ourselves. So it’s sad in why we sabotage ourselves. So one of the first reasons why we sabotage ourselves, it’s because of ego. That we want to protect our ego. And we often say to ourselves, if they can do it without me, what’s my value? What value am I bringing if the team can do it without me? And that’s such a false way to think about it because you bring value by giving intent, by giving vision, by enabling them with the tools, the training, the the space. Okay, to go ahead and achieve the task or to pro do the project, whatever it is that you’ve sent out. You are adding value because you’re giving them the direction in which you want them to move.

Scott McCarthy [00:09:56]:
Adding value isn’t always being the one crushing the keyboard or designing something or crunching the numbers, what have you. It often actually is simply ask answering the question, what? What is it we’re here to achieve? What is the vision for this? What is our intent behind doing this? Simply answering that one question brings huge value to the organization, to your team, and use the leader. That one is on you. You have to answer be able to answer that question. Not the how, but the what. And then, super importantly, the why. The why behind it. You have to be the one to answer that question.

Scott McCarthy [00:10:55]:
Because your team won’t know. You have to be able to communicate it to them so that they do get it. They understand the why behind it, what they’re doing and why they’re doing it. The how we’ve looked up to them. The when give them a lot of input when can be done. K. Put the what and the why. Make sure you grab those because that is where you add your value.

Scott McCarthy [00:11:27]:
It’s not by crunching the keyboard, doing the presentation, crunching those numbers, what have you. It’s the what and why. The next way we sabotage ourselves, seen this so many times, is perfectionism, which we disguise as quote unquote standards. And don’t get me wrong, let’s hit pause for a second. I am all about standards. Heck, I’m in the army. We set standards for everything. Okay.

Scott McCarthy [00:12:10]:
There’s a standard for how long my beard can be for God’s sakes. It might be something like five centimeters, I think. Anyway, doesn’t matter. I like to keep my beard short. But the moral of the story is this, that, you know, perfectionism when we disguise perfectionism as stand or as standards reality is, It’s again a bit of ego and it’s also a bit of insecurity. Ego in that we believe everything has to be perfect. Insecurity in believing that nothing that you touch or don’t touch, I should say, can’t be perfect. So everything that’s perfect must be touched by you, and only you can make things perfect.

Scott McCarthy [00:13:02]:
That is the insecurity going on there. Don’t get me wrong. High standards, absolutely crucial for sure. But if you find your team pushing back on those high standards, then maybe it’s time to ask yourself right now. You know, am I actually being perfectionist here or am I holding high standards? Which one’s actually happening right now? Because perfectionism will get in the way of progression. Because let me tell you something, nothing’s perfect. I’m sorry. Nothing is.

Scott McCarthy [00:13:49]:
Now, don’t get me wrong. Okay? There are plenty of perfect things in life. You know, holding your newborn child for the first time, perfect. That beautiful sunset with that special person you love, perfect. Got it. That’s not what we’re talking about here, and you know it. So don’t use that as a crutch against me. Alright? So when we get back to work and leading teams, let me tell you, there is nothing perfect out there.

Scott McCarthy [00:14:18]:
So drop the perfectionism. Look for minimum viable products. Look for those solid 80% solutions. Look at how relevant your standards actually are. Does it even matter? Like, really, at that time, does it matter if that TPS report is properly formatted to the perfection that it needs to be? Maybe not. K. And then the final reason why we sabotage ourselves is that we have this deep seated identity around being a hero, not the enabler. And, you know, I’ve said it on the podcast many times and it’s your first time listening, my apologies.

Scott McCarthy [00:15:11]:
But I’ll say it again. And that is, I am my team is the reason for our successes and I am the reason for failures. You have to flip the script on this one. You have to make your team hero. In the end, you become enabler, the guide. You know, it’s this is being recorded and we’ll get released the May, you know, with star wars. Everyone talking about star wars right now, made a force be with you and yes, I’m a star wars fan like many. But if you think about obi wan Kenobi, if you don’t know star wars, my apology, you just won’t get this analogy, but bear with me.

Scott McCarthy [00:15:59]:
Okay? But if you think about obi wan Kenobi, obi is not, he’s not the hero of star wars, especially in episodes four, five, six. He’s not. He’s the guide. He shows Luke the way and how to use the force. Much like Yoda, master Yoda is a god. Right? And then we get into the later episodes and whatever your opinion of them are, just bear with me here. You know, episodes seven, eight, nine, Luke becomes the guide. He’s no longer the hero but rather ray becomes the hero.

Scott McCarthy [00:16:48]:
So how might you be the guide? I e the enabler for your team. Enable them to achieve what it is that you need them to achieve. K. That that is what we do as leaders. Alright. So we, you know, we’re gonna shift gears one last time here. We’ve talked about, you know, ways to recognize whether or not you’re being a bottleneck and why we go ahead and we sabotage ourselves. Again, folks, this is not an exhaustive list.

Scott McCarthy [00:17:22]:
There, of course, are many other ways that we can recognize that we’re being a bottleneck for our teams or that we are sabotaging ourselves. Okay? It’s just a handful of ideas that I just jotted down before hitting record here and thinking them through. But what we’re going to talk about, regardless if you recognize some of these or none of them, and you’ve recognized other things, we’re gonna talk about how you can break the pattern. Because shifting from doer to developer, okay, this is what matters. This is where, you know, leadership the leadership rubber meets the rope per se. Because basically, what if you’ve gone through what we’re talking about before this is effectively being a boss. And don’t get me wrong. You know, you could be that, very nice and professional, k, when we boss, but not even realize you’re actually bossing your team.

Scott McCarthy [00:18:26]:
By not giving them the space, by taking everything on, by being perfectionist, you could be bossing your team, but you could be doing it in a very professional and warm manner and just not realize it. That’s okay. You know what? Plenty of people out there who realize that later. So let’s talk about some ways that you can make some shifts here and some practical mindset shifts. The first one being is that you need to realize that you are not indispensable. You’re not indispensable. Okay. But you are a force multiplier.

Scott McCarthy [00:19:05]:
You absolutely are as a leader. You’re a force multiplier. You multiply the output of that team exponentially, But you can only do it if you leverage the team as a whole and enable them to get after it without needing you every thirty seconds. You can be that force multiplier. Okay. Second practical mindset mindset shift that you need is that what’s done by others 80% is better than you done at 100% yet late. Late is late, never good enough. 80% on time will always be better than 100% late.

Scott McCarthy [00:19:59]:
So keep that in mind. Keep that in mind on how you delegate your tasks, how you issue direction, how you manage your team. Okay. Go after the 80% solution. That from remainder 20%, let me guarantee you, is just not worth it. K. Some other things that you can go ahead and try for size is a weekly review where you can sit there and kinda journal. Okay? And ask yourself, what am I holding that someone else could own? You know, maybe you’re holding all the decisions when you got, like, an assistant that could go ahead and take quite a number of those on or other team leads.

Scott McCarthy [00:20:43]:
Okay. Journal about that. Think about it. Create a decision framework for your team. So basically, what you’re doing is you’re pre deciding ahead of time. But it enables them to go ahead and act without having to hunt you down and get your decision when it’s something that is regular routine. This is super useful. We use this quite regularly in the army.

Scott McCarthy [00:21:14]:
Okay. And then finally, use the teach once, coach twice, then delegate model. K? Teach them how to do it, coach them through doing it, and then delegate. So another way of saying that is, I do, you watch, you do, I watch, you do. Okay? It’s just another way to do it. Alright, ladies and gentlemen. So hope you find this useful. Hope you to kinda open your eyes to maybe some things that you’re doing, some fallacies that you’re telling yourself as a leader, and how you are actually causing the bottleneck within your team.

Scott McCarthy [00:21:58]:
And, you know, as a great person once said, the best leaders are willing to get out of their own way. No. I don’t know who that quote came from because it is unknown. But you know what? Leave with this tomorrow or today, whenever. Get your team together and you know, ask themselves or ask them I should say, this one question and that is, what’s one thing I do right now that slows us down? And the most important thing about asking that question is shutting up and listening to what they have to say because you’re going to get the answers from them. Alright. Leadership is not about control ladies and gentlemen it’s about capacity and building capacity by letting things go is the way forward. If you have troubles, letting things go and if you’re ready to stop being the bottleneck and starting becoming the leader your team needs, Let’s talk.

Scott McCarthy [00:23:09]:
Do you want a call with me? Lead don’t boss /clarity. Or more importantly yet, come join us at the leader growth mastermind at leaddon’tboss.com/mastermind, where you’ll come together with other leaders just like you with struggles, with difficulties, and help each other out because that’s what we do. It’s a community of leaders just like you, and we solve some of the biggest issues going. And again, this isn’t senior executive CEOs of multi trillion dollar companies. This is everyday leaders just like yourself. Listen to this podcast. Alright. So remember as always, ladies and gentlemen, lead don’t boss.

Scott McCarthy [00:24:05]:
Take care now.