My client, Tom, is a senior executive at a multi‑billion‑dollar international company, leading thousands of employees across his organization. He’s smart, experienced, and respected. When I coach him, it’s clear he knows his business inside and out.

Recently, Tom vents about one of the divisions his company acquired a few years ago.
“They drive me crazy,” he says. “It’s always ‘go to Dad’ for every little thing. They don’t take ownership. They wait for the previous owner to tell them what to do. It’s slow, reactive, and exhausting.”

He’s right. It is exhausting to inherit a culture like that, one where people play it safe, hide behind permission, and avoid accountability.

But then we unpack his own week.

Every meeting. Every “quick question.” Every decision that somehow lands on his desk. And suddenly, the pattern he’s criticizing in his team stares back at him in the mirror,  and let me tell you, it isn’t pretty.

So I ask him: “How often do people come to you for answers?”
He sighs. “Every day. All the time.”
“And what do you do?”
His answer comes fast. “I give them the answer. It’s faster that way. And I’m trying to teach them speed!”

And there it is.

Tom hates that his acquired division lives in a “go to Dad” culture… but he’s doing the exact same thing with his own people.

When there’s hesitation, he jumps in. When a customer issue escalates, he handles it personally. When things slow down, he puts on the superhero cape — not always doing the work himself, but fielding every decision, giving every answer, becoming the hub for everything.

And here’s the thing: it feels like leadership.

If you’ve heard me talk about the four fears of leadership — incompetence, appearing foolish, failure, and vulnerability — you know these fears are always lurking. In this case, it isn’t just Tom. His people are swimming in fear of failure. They don’t want to make the wrong call, so they learn the safest play: defer the decision to Tom. If he owns the call, they can’t be blamed.

And every time Tom answers for them, he reinforces it. It isn’t problem‑solving. It’s decision‑making deflection — and it keeps his team dependent on him.

It makes things feel fast — we can just picture Tom flinging through the air like a speeding bullet, his brightly colored superhero cape waving in the wind, snatching problems out of midair as they come flying at him. But in reality? Every time he does that, he’s teaching his team to wait for him.

He’s reinforcing the very culture he claims to despise.

Here’s what I want you to get from this: this isn’t a time problem. It’s a role clarity problem.

Tom’s real job isn’t to personally save every deal, fix every fire, or sign off on every decision. His job is to build a team that doesn’t need him in the weeds at all.

That’s the shift I see so many leaders needing to make — getting clear on what only they should own, and letting go of everything else.

If you’re wearing your own superhero cape, here’s where to start:

Do These 3 Things This Week

1. Spot the Cape Moments
Every time you feel that tug to swoop in and “save the day,” pause. Write it down. Is this truly yours to solve? Or are you missing a chance to coach someone else to solve it? That little adrenaline rush you get when you jump in? That’s your cape calling. Hang it up.

2. Ask Before You Act
When someone brings you a problem, don’t default to fixing it. Try this instead: “I know you’ve been thinking about this — catch me up on your thinking so far.” It shifts the weight back to them. They probably already have a path forward. Your job is to unlock it, not steal it.

3. Redefine What You Own
Write down the things only you should own at your level — your real CEO‑of‑your‑area work. Everything else? Decide: delegate it, automate it, or eliminate it. And if it doesn’t belong to you, ask yourself: “Really, [insert your name here]? What the hell are you doing holding onto this?”

Hang up the cape. Clarify your role. Coach your people up instead of rescuing them.

Because leadership isn’t about doing everything faster. It’s about creating a team that moves forward without you in the middle of every decision.

Want help making that shift?
Book a free Leadership Clarity Call.
In 45 minutes, we’ll use my 28‑point diagnostic to uncover what’s eating your time, define what only you should own, and design your next steps to lead without the cape.