Feb 20 • Chat
Stop Trying to Be the Smartest Person in the Room, Be the Most Useful
It took me a while to realize this, but one of the biggest shifts in my leadership came when I stopped trying to prove how much I knew and started focusing on how much value I could create for the people around me.
In IT, it’s easy to fall into the trap of thinking leadership means having every answer, solving every ticket, or being the technical hero who jumps in to save the day. I’ve done that. It feels good in the moment, but it quietly turns you into a bottleneck and keeps your team from growing.
That lesson hit me hard on a day I took off. I had barely made it through breakfast before my phone started buzzing, six calls from different team members, all asking how to do things I knew they were fully capable of handling. These weren’t new tasks. They weren’t emergencies. They were just situations that made people uncomfortable or unsure, and instead of trusting themselves, they reached for me.
That’s when I realized I had unintentionally built a system where I was the safety net for everything. My team didn’t need more technical answers from me, they needed more confidence in themselves. And that confidence wasn’t going to grow if I kept stepping in every time someone felt uncertain.
That day off taught me more about leadership than any training ever has.
Since then, I’ve shifted my focus. Instead of trying to be the smartest person in the room, I try to be the most useful one.
For me, that looks like:
- Clearing blockers so my team can move faster without waiting on me
- Translating complexity so non-technical folks can make better decisions
- Creating psychological safety so people aren’t afraid to speak up or ask questions
- Asking better questions instead of jumping straight into solutions
- Sharing context so the team understands why something matters, not just what to do
I’ve learned that usefulness scales. Being “the smartest” doesn’t.
When I focus on usefulness, my team becomes more confident, more capable, and more willing to take ownership. And ironically, that’s when people start seeing you as a stronger leader, not because you’re the loudest expert in the room, but because you make everyone else better.
If you’re already in a leadership role, this mindset shift can take a lot of pressure off your shoulders. And if you’re aiming to become a leader, this is one of the most powerful habits you can build early.
Leadership isn’t about being the hero. It’s about building an environment where heroes don’t need to exist.
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Stop Trying to Be the Smartest Person in the Room, Be the Most Useful
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