Navigating the jump from specialist to leader
Moving from deep expertise to wide impact
Most of us don’t set out to lead. We start by getting really good at something; digital strategy, user research, service design, you name it. We become the go-to people. The ones others rely on when something tricky needs fixing.
And then, one day, the job changes. Not overnight, but gradually and awkwardly. It stops being about ‘doing the thing’, and starts being about making space for others to do it well.
And that shift? It’s uncomfortable.
Why moving into leadership feels weird
When your sense of value has come from delivering – writing the strategy, fixing the UX flow, shipping the product – leadership can feel like a loss. You’re still in the room, but not at the whiteboard. You’re still accountable, but no longer the one pulling the strings.
And if, like me, you’re driven by a bit of ego and a lot of a desire to be useful, that can feel deeply disorienting.
Early in my leadership journey, I sat on a board that reviewed digital work before it went live. I’d spent years railing against this exact panel as a specialist. It felt like interference from people too far removed from the real work to add value. But now I was on the other side of the table.
One day, a brilliant colleague and friend presented a proposed change to our website. From her perspective, focused tightly on the success of her project, it made total sense. But I had to push back. Not because she was wrong, but because I was now responsible for looking across all our digital products. I had a broader view, and it came with a different kind of accountability.
I hated saying no. But I’ve come to realise that this is what leadership is. It’s not about being right, it’s about holding the whole picture, even when it’s unpopular.
Letting go of ego, but not care
That moment taught me that leadership isn’t about being the smartest person in the room. It’s about understanding when your role is to create boundaries and when it’s to step back. And it’s about developing the humility to know the difference.
In practice, that means finding satisfaction in quieter things, such as a teammate stepping up with confidence in a tricky meeting that ends in alignment, in a project that thrives without your fingerprints on it.
None of that gives the same rush as launching a campaign or cracking a design brief. But it’s deeper. It’s about creating the conditions where good stuff happens because of you, even if you’re not the one holding the pen.
The shift from doing to enabling
Here’s what that transition has looked like for me, and for others I’ve supported.
From expert to integrator: connecting dots across disciplines, not just deep diving into one.
From warrior to diplomat: being ‘certain’ about any specific point reduces the collaboration you can make happen with other people.
From tactician to strategist: setting direction and holding the vision, not jumping in to tweak the wireframes.
From problem-solver to agenda-setter: not just fixing issues, but asking the bigger questions about what comes next.
None of this is linear. You’ll still find yourself wanting to jump back in. That’s okay. What matters is knowing when to, and when to coach someone else to do it instead.
Making space for growth
At William Joseph, we’ve learned that leadership isn’t something people just ‘get’, they grow into it. That growth happens when organisations:
encourage vulnerability: letting people say, “I don’t know how to do this yet,” and still feel safe
invest in relationships: because trust, not titles, is what really makes teams work
focus on outcomes, not outputs: what matters is the impact you enable, not the tasks you tick off
Leadership is a practice. One that gets better the more we share, reflect, and support each other through it.
To those making the shift
If you’re stepping into leadership and feeling a bit lost, you’re in good company. Most of us didn’t arrive here by design, we just cared a lot and kept showing up.
The challenge now isn’t to be perfect. It’s to be open, curious, and willing to learn. The skills that got you here still matter. They just need a broader stage.
And remember, your job isn’t to have all the answers. It’s to make sure the people around you have the space, support, and confidence to find their own.
That’s when real leadership happens.