“What I really struggle with,” said Dietrich, “Is that I’m so good at being an operator. I’m adept at solving problems, getting things done for customers, fixing a problem in production or operations.

“But those are the kinds of activities that distract me from the things I know I need to be doing, like strategy, innovation, culture, plus trying to understand what a development means for our business and its implications across multiple domains.”

Dietrich is a composite of dozens of up and coming executives I know. I’ve heard similar confessions countless times, because this struggle is the one thing that keeps a great operator from becoming an equally adept leader.

Let’s go inside Dietrich’s (imaginary) head one year from now, after he successfully made this transition. How did he do it?

***

“I’m really coming to appreciate the opportunities this business has… untapped potential… ways to win in the marketplace… things we could be doing that we’re missing, from an opportunity standpoint.

“I’m starting to appreciate that there are only a few levers I have to pull as CEO.

“I’m also starting to fully understand that I am the greatest roadblock to my team’s development, to my team’s ability to bring their full talents to bear.

“I’m the greatest impediment to the quality of collective thinking we have at the top of the house, when I own all the problems and personally solve all of them.

“I’m getting more comfortable with recognizing that progress and impact is typically not on a day-to-day or week-to-week basis, but that it has to be judged over a longer arc. And I’m at least finding some satisfaction in knowing that I’m adding value by spending time on the bigger, thornier strategic issues that no one else is able to.

“My focus has become adding value over the longer run, whether that means two months or even three to five years. It’s a bit like delayed gratification, but I’m becoming okay with that.

“How did I finally manage to make this shift?

“By worrying less about the risk of things.

“By ceasing to watch incessantly for the ways in which my team will likely make mistakes and letting them learn from such errors… instead of saving them from such missteps.

“I stopped putting myself in the flow of information about what’s happening on a day-to-day basis, because it’s too much of a distraction and too strong of a pull.

“I also stopped allowing my calendar to get filled up. I stopped taking the bait when the team tried to delegate up to me.

“Perhaps most importantly, I stopped thinking of my role as the most important person in achieving success on a daily basis. I redefined my role to: facilitating our success over the long term.”

***

And that is how you make the shift.