Shifting Behaviours

The one behaviour that helped me become VP was learning to detach from my own ideas.

Early in my career, I defended my work, argued for my projects and fought for my team's priorities because I thought that's what good leaders did.

Over time, I realised the leaders who got promoted approached their work differently.

They could spend months building something and recommend shutting it down the moment it stopped making business sense because they never confused commitment with attachment.

That stayed with me.

I started approaching important decisions as though I were reviewing somebody else's business case, separating the quality of the decision from the effort already spent.

Projects became easier to stop.

Changing direction became easier.

So did disappointing my own team when the organisation needed something different.

People eventually trusted my judgement because they knew I would not defend an idea simply because it was mine.

They knew I would support whatever gave the business the best outcome, even when it came at my own expense.

I have come to see detachment as a defining trait (a standard of VP and C-suite).

It is easy to understand, yet challenging to practise when one's own work and team is involved.