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🪑 The Leadership Table Monday, March 02, 2026 | A Student of Leadership

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March is our last month here together.

— Robert

The behaviors that got you promoted are often the exact behaviors that will prevent your next promotion. But they're so deeply embedded in how you work that you can't see them as problems. You see them as strengths.

The Success Trap

Marshall Goldsmith wrote an entire book about this phenomenon: "What Got You Here Won't Get You There." And in thirty years of watching foodservice leaders navigate their careers, I've seen this play out hundreds of times. Same pattern. Different people.

Someone is exceptional at execution. They get things done. They solve problems. They drive results. So they get promoted. And promoted again. Until they hit a level where execution alone isn't enough. Where they need to delegate instead of doing. Where they need to develop people instead of solving their problems. Where they need to think strategically instead of moving fast.

And that's when they struggle. Not because they lack capability. Because the very behaviors that made them successful, that got rewarded at every previous level, are now holding them back. But they can't see it. Because in their experience, these behaviors work. They always have.

I watched this happen with Tom, one of the best operators I've ever known. Started as a line cook. Worked his way up to sous chef, then head chef, then multi-unit culinary director. Every promotion earned through pure excellence in execution. If something needed to be done, Tom did it. If a problem needed solving, Tom solved it. If a crisis happened, Tom handled it.

This approach worked brilliantly when he was managing three restaurants. It started breaking down when he was managing twelve. And it completely failed when he was promoted to VP of Culinary for thirty-five units.

He worked harder than ever. Longer hours. More personal intervention. Solving more problems. But the results got worse. Kitchens were struggling. Chefs were leaving. Food costs were climbing. And Tom couldn't understand why. He was doing exactly what had always worked before.

When I asked him to describe his typical week, the problem became clear. He was spending eighty percent of his time solving immediate problems across his thirty-five units. Flying to locations to fix issues. Taking over prep when kitchens were short-staffed. Rewriting menus that weren't working. Personally training struggling chefs.

"Tom, you're the VP of Culinary for thirty-five restaurants. Why are you working the line at Unit 17?"

"Because they were short two people and service was starting. Someone had to step in."

"Where was the chef?"

"Handling a different crisis in the dining room."

"And the sous chef?"

"He's not experienced enough to handle a rush like that."

"So you flew across the state to work a dinner shift?"

"What else was I supposed to do? Let them fail?"

And there it was. The behavior that made Tom exceptional at every previous level was now preventing him from being effective at this level. He was so good at solving problems that he'd never learned to build systems that prevented problems. He was so good at execution that he'd never learned to develop people who could execute without him. He was so valuable in a crisis that his entire organization had become dependent on him being the solution to every crisis.

What got him there was keeping him stuck.

Why Success Creates Blind Spots

Here's what makes this particularly difficult: The behaviors that are holding you back are your proven strengths. They've worked for years. They've been rewarded at every step. People have praised you for them. You've built your professional identity around them.

When someone suggests you need to stop doing them, it feels like they're asking you to stop being yourself. It feels like they don't understand what makes you valuable. It feels like they want you to abandon the very things that got you where you are.

Research from organizational psychology shows that this is one of the hardest transitions leaders face. When you're promoted based on excellence in a specific set of behaviors, you develop what researchers call "competency attachment." You become emotionally invested in those behaviors as core to your identity and value.

But here's the paradox: As you move up in leadership, the skills that matter most change fundamentally.

At junior levels, success is about personal contribution. How good are you at doing the work? At mid-levels, success is about team performance. How good are you at getting work done through others? At senior levels, success is about organizational impact. How good are you at creating conditions where work gets done without your direct involvement?

Each transition requires you to let go of what made you successful at the previous level. But letting go feels like giving up your competitive advantage. So most people don't. They keep doing what worked before, just at a larger scale. And they wonder why it's not working anymore.

The Five Behaviors That Stop Working

In my work with foodservice leaders, I see five specific behaviors that consistently trip people up as they move into senior roles. Each one was essential at earlier stages. Each one becomes limiting at higher levels.

1. Being the Smartest Person in the Room

Early in your career, success often comes from being the person with the best answer. You're promoted because you know more than others. You solve problems they can't solve. You see solutions they miss. This builds confidence and credibility.

But at senior levels, being the smartest person in the room means you've hired the wrong people. Your job isn't to have all the answers. It's to create conditions where the smartest collective thinking emerges from your team.

Leaders who can't make this shift become bottlenecks. Every decision has to go through them. Every problem needs their input. The organization can only move as fast as they can think. And meanwhile, talented people leave because they're treated as implementers rather than thinkers.

Tom was brilliant at diagnosis. He could walk into any kitchen and immediately identify what was wrong and how to fix it. This made him invaluable as a culinary director. But as VP, his diagnostic brilliance meant his chefs never had to develop their own diagnostic skills. They just waited for Tom to show up and tell them what to do.

2. Solving Problems Instead of Building Problem-Solvers

When you're good at solving problems, it's faster to solve them yourself than to teach someone else. This is true. It will always be faster in the short term.

But leadership isn't about short-term efficiency. It's about long-term capability building. Every time you solve a problem someone else could solve, you deny them the opportunity to develop that skill. And you ensure they'll bring the same problem to you again next time.

Tom was so good at stepping in during crises that his chefs never learned to handle crises themselves. They called him. He flew in. He fixed it. They learned that when things got hard, Tom would rescue them. Which meant things stayed hard, because they never developed the capability to prevent or handle difficulties on their own.

At senior levels, your job isn't to solve problems. It's to develop people who solve problems. This requires you to watch people struggle with challenges you could solve in five minutes and resist the urge to take over. It's counterintuitive to everything that got you promoted.

3. Moving Fast Instead of Moving Right

In operational roles, speed is critical. The faster you can respond, the better. You're rewarded for decisiveness, for quick action, for handling things immediately.

But at senior levels, moving fast on the wrong decision creates bigger problems than moving slower on the right one. Strategy requires deliberation. Organizational change requires careful sequencing. Culture building requires patience.

Leaders who can't shift from "fast" to "right" make reactive decisions that feel good in the moment but create downstream chaos. They announce changes without thinking through implementation. They restructure organizations without understanding implications. They prioritize visible action over sustainable impact.

The problem is, moving fast still feels like success. You're doing something. You're showing leadership. You're being decisive. But you're often just creating more problems for someone else to clean up later.

4. Proving Yourself Instead of Developing Others

Early in your career, you need to prove you deserve to be there. You work harder than everyone else. You deliver more. You show you're capable. This is appropriate and necessary.

But at senior levels, if you're still proving yourself through your personal output, you're focusing on the wrong work. Your value isn't your individual contribution anymore. It's the collective contribution of your organization. And proving yourself through personal heroics often undermines the development of your team.

Tom kept proving himself by being the person who solved the hardest problems. Every time he did, he reinforced his own value. But he also reinforced his team's dependence. They didn't need to get better because Tom would always be there.

The shift from proving yourself to developing others is one of the hardest identity transitions in leadership. It requires you to measure success differently. Not by what you personally accomplished, but by what your people accomplished without you.

5. Maintaining Control Instead of Building Systems

When you're excellent at execution, you maintain quality through personal involvement. You check the details. You stay close to the work. You ensure nothing falls through the cracks.

This works when you're managing a small team or a few locations. But as you scale, personal control becomes impossible. You can't be everywhere. You can't check everything. You can't ensure quality through individual oversight.

Leaders who can't let go of control try to scale their personal oversight instead of building systems. They create approval processes that route through them. They insert themselves into decisions. They require updates and check-ins. They micromanage at scale.

This creates bottlenecks, frustrates capable people, and ensures the organization can't function without them. Which feels important but is actually a massive failure of leadership.

At senior levels, you can't control through involvement. You have to control through systems, standards, and people development. You build structures that ensure quality without requiring your personal attention. This means letting go of the direct control that made you feel competent at earlier levels.

The Framework: Letting Go to Level Up

So how do you actually change behaviors that are so deeply embedded? Marshall Goldsmith's framework is the most effective approach I've found. It's based on stakeholder-centered coaching and requires rigorous honesty about what's working and what's not.

STEP 1: IDENTIFY THE BEHAVIOR TO STOP

This is harder than it sounds because the behavior is probably something you're good at. Start by asking yourself: What am I doing that made me successful at my last level but might be limiting me at this level?

Then ask three people who see you work closely: "What's one thing I do that you think I should stop doing or do less of?" Don't defend. Don't explain. Just listen.

If two or more people name the same behavior or variations of it, that's your answer. If nobody mentions anything, you're either surrounded by people who are too afraid to be honest with you, or you've asked the wrong question. Try asking: "What's one thing I do that you think worked when I was in my previous role but might not serve me as well in this role?"

Common patterns to watch for:

• You're solving problems people bring you instead of coaching them through solutions
• You're involved in decisions at too many levels below you
• You're working longer hours but getting less strategic work done
• You're the bottleneck for approvals or decisions
• People wait for your direction instead of taking initiative

Tom's behavior to stop: "Personally solving every significant problem across my organization instead of developing problem-solvers."

STEP 2: DEFINE THE REPLACEMENT BEHAVIOR

You can't just stop doing something. You need to replace it with something else. The question is: What behavior would serve you better at this level?

This isn't about becoming a completely different person. It's about evolving your approach. Tom didn't need to stop caring about problem-solving. He needed to channel that care into developing people who could solve problems.

His replacement behavior: "When someone brings me a problem, my first response is to ask what they've tried and what they think should happen next, rather than immediately diagnosing and solving."

This is specific. It's behavioral. It's something he can actually practice. And it still leverages his diagnostic skill, but redirects it toward development rather than solving.

Examples of replacement behaviors:

• Instead of being the smartest person in the room → Ask the question that helps the room think smarter
• Instead of solving problems → Coach people through solving problems
• Instead of moving fast → Move deliberately on what matters most
• Instead of proving yourself → Create conditions for others to prove themselves
• Instead of maintaining control through oversight → Build systems that ensure quality

STEP 3: ENLIST STAKEHOLDER ACCOUNTABILITY

This is the critical step most people skip. You can't change deeply embedded behaviors through willpower alone. You need external accountability.

Identify 3-5 people who see you work regularly. Tell them specifically what behavior you're trying to stop and what you're trying to replace it with. Ask them to point it out when they see you falling back into the old pattern.

This is uncomfortable. You're making yourself vulnerable. You're admitting a weakness. You're inviting criticism. But it's the only way this works.

Tom told his direct reports: "I'm trying to stop being the person who solves all your problems and become better at developing you to solve them yourselves. When you see me slip back into solving mode, I need you to call it out. Don't just let me take over. Remind me that I'm supposed to be coaching, not solving."

Then monthly, he asked each of them: "On a scale of 1-10, how am I doing at coaching you through problems instead of solving them for you? What's one example where I did it well? What's one example where I reverted to old patterns?"

This creates a feedback loop that makes the invisible visible. Without it, you'll convince yourself you're making more progress than you are.

STEP 4: PRACTICE DAILY DISCIPLINE

Behavioral change requires consistent practice, not occasional effort. You need a daily discipline.

Every morning, remind yourself of the behavior you're changing and the replacement behavior you're practicing. Marshall Goldsmith calls this "active questions" instead of passive questions.

Instead of asking "Did I coach my people well today?" (passive), ask "Did I do my best to coach my people today?" (active). The difference matters. The first lets you blame circumstances. The second puts responsibility on your effort.

Tom's daily question: "Did I do my best to develop my people's problem-solving capability rather than solving their problems for them?"

At the end of each day, rate yourself 1-10. Be honest. Track it. You'll see patterns. Days when you score low, what was different? Days when you score high, what enabled that?

This daily practice keeps the behavior change front of mind. Without it, you'll default to old patterns whenever you're busy or stressed, which is most of the time in senior leadership.

What Happened with Tom

It took Tom about six months to really shift his pattern. Not because he was slow to learn, but because the behavior was so automatic. He'd get a call about a problem and his immediate instinct was to solve it. Thousands of repetitions over twenty years had wired that response deep.

But he practiced. Every day. And his team held him accountable. When he started slipping into solving mode, they'd remind him: "Tom, what question should you be asking me right now?" That external reminder created a pause long enough for him to shift gears.

The results showed up slowly at first, then accelerated. His chefs started solving problems they would have called him about before. They developed their own diagnostic skills. They built confidence. Some of them started doing for their sous chefs what Tom was now doing for them, creating a cascade of capability building.

And Tom's role changed fundamentally. Instead of being the best problem-solver in the organization, he became the person who developed the best problem-solvers. Same underlying skill, completely different application. Same care for excellence, channeled into people development rather than personal performance.

Two years later, his region was the highest performing in the company. Not because Tom was solving all their problems. Because he'd built an organization that could solve its own problems.

This Week's Practice: Behavior to Stop

IDENTIFY ONE BEHAVIOR TO CHANGE

This week, do this four-step process:

Day 1: Reflect on this question: "What behavior made me successful at my previous level but might be limiting me at my current level?" Write down your honest answer.

Day 2: Ask three people who work closely with you: "What's one thing you think I should stop doing or do less of to be more effective at this level?" Listen without defending.

Day 3: Look for patterns in the feedback. Pick one behavior to change. Define the specific replacement behavior you want to practice.

Day 4: Tell your team what behavior you're changing and ask them to help hold you accountable. Be specific about what you want them to notice and how you want them to call it out.

Days 5-7: Practice daily discipline. Each morning, remind yourself of the behavior change. Each evening, rate yourself 1-10 on how well you did. Track it.

This isn't a one-week fix. Behavioral change takes months. But this week is about starting. About naming the behavior. About enlisting support. About beginning the practice.

What got you here won't get you there. But what gets you there is within your control if you're willing to let go of what's no longer serving you.

The Deeper Truth About Letting Go

Here's what I've learned about this after three decades: Letting go of what made you successful feels like loss. It is loss. You're giving up behaviors that served you well, that you're proud of, that define you professionally.

But you're not actually giving them up. You're evolving them. Tom didn't stop being a problem-solver. He became a developer of problem-solvers. Same underlying capability, different expression. Same care for excellence, channeled through people instead of personal performance.

The leaders who keep growing are the ones who can hold this paradox: Honoring what got them here while recognizing it won't get them there. Appreciating their strengths while being willing to evolve how they apply them. Building on their foundation while constructing something new.

What got you here won't get you there. But what got you here is still valuable. You just need to use it differently.

That's not loss. That's evolution. And it's the only way to keep growing as a leader.

🪑 From the Leadership Table

Deep frameworks for building leadership that lasts. Every Monday, one comprehensive exploration of the capabilities that separate good leaders from great ones.

By Robert Adams • 30+ Years in Foodservice Leadership • EVP, UniPro Foodservice • Marshall Goldsmith Stakeholder Centered Coach

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