Want to Be Indispensable? Start by Making Yourself Replaceable
Your team is firing on all cylinders. They’re delivering great results, collaborating seamlessly, and hitting every target you set. You’ve built a rockstar team—exactly what every leader dreams of. But if your goal stops there, you’re thinking too small.
Great leaders know it’s not just about leading a successful team today—it’s about ensuring the team’s success isn’t dependent on any one individual, including you. It’s about building a team that can thrive well into the future, even when you’re not at the helm. When you develop others to step into your role, you create more opportunities for your own growth without leaving a leadership gap behind.
Start Building for Tomorrow
Strengthening your team and hitting today’s goals is important, but true leadership is about looking ahead. Part of that is ensuring your team can succeed without relying on you. If your team’s performance depends on your constant presence, you’re holding back their growth—and your own. A team that can lead itself creates space for everyone, including you, to grow.
Embrace the Exit Strategy
You don’t want to stay in the same role forever, and neither does your team. Succession planning isn’t just for CEOs—it’s about creating opportunities for everyone to grow and advance. By preparing your team to take over, you free yourself to move up and give your team members the chance to step into bigger roles. Leaders who develop their successors pave the way for their own promotion by showing they can lead beyond their current role and ensure continuity.
Another Bonus: You’ll Become a Talent Magnet
People want to work for leaders who invest in their growth. If you’re known for developing leaders, you won’t need to chase talent—they’ll seek you out. Building successors not only boosts your personal brand, it strengthens your influence long after you’ve moved on. When you create future leaders, you create ambassadors for your leadership style who will carry it forward.
Is it Time to Develop Your Successor?
Look around at your team and ask, “What would happen if I left tomorrow?” If the answer is chaos, it’s time to act. Too often, leaders develop people only to the level that feels safe. That’s not leadership; that’s creating dependency. True leadership is about preparing your team to outgrow you.
How to Prepare Your Successor:
Identify Potential Successors: Who are the people most likely to take your job? If there’s one clear candidate, great. If not, begin developing multiple potential leaders.
Delegate the Tough Stuff: Don’t just hand off easy tasks. Delegate high-stakes decisions and let them learn by doing.
Increase the Pressure: Expose them to the challenges you face. Let them handle tough cross-functional issues and watch them grow.
Encourage Bold Moves: Don’t groom them to be your clone. Let them take risks—even if they choose a path you wouldn’t.
Shift the Spotlight: Let your successor lead in meetings and with key stakeholders. If you’re still the face of every major decision, you’re holding them back.
The Real Payoff
Developing a successor doesn’t mean planning your exit—it means expanding your leadership reach. It creates a ripple effect that boosts engagement, performance, and the overall health of the organization. And here’s the real win: it gives you the freedom to pursue bigger opportunities, knowing your team can thrive without you.
If you’re not already thinking about who’s going to fill your shoes, you’re thinking too small. Leadership isn’t about making yourself indispensable—it’s about making yourself replaceable. Ironically, that’s how you become truly indispensable.
P.S. Whether you're a seasoned executive or an aspiring leader, true growth comes from taking action. Subscribe to Practical Perspectives, my monthly newsletter, for actionable strategies and simple experiments to help you earn—and truly embrace—your seat at the table.
