Becoming Dispensable: A 12-Point Manifesto

• I have to become dispensable.
• A linchpin is under pressure to stay in place.
• If things cannot move forward without me, then I am slowing progress.
• I trusted my team enough to hire them, invest in them, and put my career in their hands.
• Leadership and management are not the same thing.
• Ideas are not widgets, and what works for widgets does not always work for ideas.
• Being dispensable doesn’t always mean being irrelevant.
• My bosses don’t always know what I do, but they all expect results.
• What I do is only a problem if the results are a problem.
• When my day is consumed by daily operations, I cannot dedicate myself to innovation or strategic thinking.
• Leadership requires innovation and strategic thinking.
• I have to become dispensable.