Are you leading your team or just rescuing them?

They said I was too young to lead 100 people. They were right....... and that's exactly why it worked.

At 25, I was leading 100+ people, many of them veterans,

in a large scientific study.

I couldn't rescue them even if I wanted to.

Yet there I was, feeling what every new leader feels:

The need to step in. Fix problems. Have all the answers.

But I simply couldn't.

My team didn't just have more experience,

they had centuries of combined wisdom

about what worked in the field.

Being forced to abandon that savior mindset

led to something surprising:

The less I tried to fix everything,

the more effective we became.

The shift was simple but yet filled with self doubt:

Instead of preparing answers, I tried asking questions.

Instead of directing decisions, I created space for expertise.

Instead of proving my worth, I focused on proving others right.

What happened surprised me, and reassured me:

Solutions came from those closest to the problems.

Field knowledge shaped our decisions.

The team's collective wisdom drove our success.

Years later, this lesson shapes every team I build:

Less fixing, more enabling.

Less rescuing, more growing.

Less controlling, more trusting.

Try this tomorrow:

Pick one decision you usually make.

Ask your team how they would handle it.

Then (this is crucial) let them.

Because I've learned that leadership

isn't about having the right answers.

It's about creating space for others to be right.