Ever wondered what might happen if leaders were promoted into their role and they didn’t have the technical mastery for the role? Reading a BRW article recently I was intrigued to read Fiona Smith report that: 
“Today’s leaders were schooled for a different era. One where the pace was slower. Where big problems came one at a time, and with some warning. One where they could have a working knowledge of most of the areas in the business.”
This substantiated my views on the possibility of our current business leaders enhancing their effectiveness by letting go of their need for technical mastery. This is difficult because most business leaders are promoted into their role as a result of their technical mastery – they are good at “doing stuff” and delivering outcomes. In my experience when people lead from a place of strong technical mastery like this they tend to use control, find solutions based on their knowledge and experiences and then make decisions based on their thinking.
So, what would happen if leaders were promoted into their role without such mastery?
I believe they could only create success by empowering the people in their team who DID have such mastery. They would bring strong strategic thinking and ask insightful questions that would facilitate the thinking of others. They would delegate, trust and coach……..they would be a courageous leader unleashing the potential of others.
