Coaching cases · Anonymized actual case · Self-awareness & roles
A place to begin
An ecommerce manager explored criteria for direct work and delegation while carrying both individual targets and responsibility for team results.
Ecommerce and retail operations · office-based playing manager · individual and team targets
The starting situation
The manager handled important operational, marketing and customer tasks while also leading the team. More time in delivery meant less time for supporting people, and colleagues increasingly executed rather than judged. Approval waits and repeated corrections grew. The leader felt unable to let go of either personal output or team responsibility.
Questions explored in coaching
Coaching explored the belief that direct involvement was safest and the feeling that producing results personally demonstrated being needed. The leader noticed tension and an urge to step in while describing the work.
The inquiry widened the definition of contribution beyond the volume of tasks completed. Could enabling the team’s judgment also be part of the leader’s performance? The aim was not to assume all practical work could disappear, but to explore time choices within the actual constraints.
Practices considered
The manager reviewed work through immediate outcome and risk, the growth opportunity if a colleague tried it, and whether someone else could take responsibility. Tasks were reconsidered in connection with team development rather than redistributed only to empty the manager’s calendar.
Priorities and decision boundaries were clarified to reduce approval dependence. The leader considered time for support and shared criteria, with attention to what enabled others to think and act rather than simply doing less personally.
What the changes invite us to notice
The account describes less direct execution and waiting for approval, alongside a wider range of work that colleagues could own. The leader reflected on a contribution that included the team’s capacity to act, rather than only personally completed tasks. Supporting execution became more visible as a responsibility.
A reflection for HR
HR can review how individual targets, team expectations, staffing and authority interact before asking the manager to let go of delivery. Without people and support time, the change cannot depend only on personal choice. Revisit role expectations and the resources needed by those receiving new responsibility.
Questions about this topic
What leadership situation does this article explore?
An ecommerce manager explored criteria for direct work and delegation while carrying both individual targets and responsibility for team results.
What practices does the article consider?
The manager reviewed work through immediate outcome and risk, the growth opportunity if a colleague tried it, and whether someone else could take responsibility. Tasks were reconsidered in connection with team development rather than redistributed only to empty the manager’s calendar.
What can HR explore alongside the leader?
HR can review how individual targets, team expectations, staffing and authority interact before asking the manager to let go of delivery. Without people and support time, the change cannot depend only on personal choice. Revisit role expectations and the resources needed by those receiving new responsibility.