The Turning Point: How You Add Value
While coaching newer managers in their first leadership role, there’s something I’ve noticed across the board: Success-driven people are wired to add value.
But what does it really mean to ‘add value’?
We often think of ways to provide value that are instantly gratifying: closing a deal, finishing a report, completing a project…
But there’s also the value that isn’t as noticeable, because it doesn’t bring about immediate results.
The first is what we tend to focus on. But the latter is what is most important in leadership.
Understanding the Shift: From Individual Contributor to Leader
I once had a client, Ann, who was outstanding in her role as an account manager. She excelled at fostering rock-solid relationships with her customers, facing rejection over and over again in the pursuit of new business, and mentoring teammates.
Senior leadership noticed this rare combination of sales mastery and talent development. She seemed like the perfect candidate for the sales manager role that had opened up.
Ann, too, was excited about the opportunity. So she stepped into the sales manager role…and immediately felt the tension between her two responsibilities.
She was still responsible for her own accounts. The daily demands of maintaining the business with her long-term customers didn’t go away, even though she now had more support.
But alongside those previous responsibilities, Ann also needed to focus time and attention on supporting her new direct reports.
What happened?
The Value Pivot: Instant to Delayed Gratification
In the face of these compounding demands, Ann initially did what many new managers do: she put the lion’s share of her energy into the work that felt familiar. She mostly left her young team to figure it out on their own, while she kept her eye on her own book of business.
Why is this so often the case?
Well, when you’ve been working for years or even decades as an individual contributor, your brain is wired to think, “What can I do to provide the most value NOW?”
As you cross a task off your to-do list, the dopamine hit provides immediate payback and a sense of satisfaction.
On the other hand, a day spent delegating and supporting your team can lead to feelings of, “I didn’t get anything done today.”
No gratification. No dopamine hit.
This is one of the reasons why the first leadership role is such a difficult transition! Under pressure, it’s all too easy to default back to what you’ve always done, where you feel secure in providing value and seeing the direct results from your work.
But if you do that, you’ll never see your team at their greatest potential and largest impact.
Putting It Into Practice
If you’re a newer manager in a situation similar to Ann’s, what can you do about it?
Like many of my clients, Ann found that shifting her definition of success made a huge difference. Little-by-little, she came to define success as a balanced approach, making sure her team had the support they needed and that her own work got done as well.
Here’s why that matters:
👉 Once your definition of success shifts, so does the way you add value.
Ann started to add value through…
➡️ Supporting the individual contributors, instead of always being the individual contributor.
➡️ Investing in team development, even without immediate gratification.
➡️ Coaching a team member to do well on a project she delegated to them.
➡️ Offering feedback instead of fixing the mistakes herself.
She now has peace-of-mind that she’s adding value whether she’s coaching, delegating, giving feedback, or handling her own projects and clients.
This isn’t an easy shift for anybody! But the payoff is massive. The gratification may not be instant, but it provides the biggest return in the long run.
P.S. Client names and identifying details about them are changed to protect their privacy.