Is Protecting Your Team Preventing Their Growth?
The Leadership Paradox Every Manager Needs to Know
"I need to protect my team from leadership."
Those words stopped me in my tracks during a conversation with a senior leader last week. On the surface, it sounds admirable. Almost heroic. Here's someone willing to absorb the heat, take the bullets, and shield their people from the chaos and criticism happening at higher levels.
But as I sat with this statement, something didn't quite sit right. And it led me to one of those uncomfortable questions that self-awareness tends to surface:
What if the protection we think we're offering isn't actually serving our team, but serving ourselves?
When Team Protection Becomes Self-Protection:
There's something undeniably appealing about the protector role in leadership. We tell ourselves we have the experience, the thick skin and the battle scars that make us uniquely equipped to handle the "warzone upstairs." Why expose our people to the pushing, the unreasonable demands, the toxic dynamics when they might not be ready for it?
It feels responsible. It feels caring. It feels like good leadership.
But here's where brutal self-awareness comes in: Sometimes the very protection we offer isn't about them at all.
When we constantly position ourselves as the buffer between our team and difficult situations, we might actually be protecting:
Our reputation: If our team struggles or makes mistakes in high-pressure situations, it reflects on us.
Our need to appear perfect: Letting others see our team's vulnerabilities means admitting we haven't created the flawless unit we want to be known for.
Our fear of criticism: If our team member handles something poorly, we'll hear about it. If we handle it ourselves, we control the outcome.
Our desire to stay indispensable: Being the go-to person, the one who can handle anything, feeds something deep in us about our value and importance.
The question that cuts to the heart of it: Are we shielding our team from legitimate development opportunities because we can't handle the potential mess?
How Overprotective Leadership Limits Team Development:
When we constantly step in as the buffer, our people miss out on crucial growth experiences in leadership development:
They don't learn to build resilience in real-time, under actual pressure.
They miss the opportunity to develop their own voice in difficult conversations.
They never get to practice reading rooms, managing up, or understanding the genuine constraints and pressures of the business.
Most significantly, they don't get to discover their own capacity to handle more than they (or we) think they can.
The Leadership Growth Paradox: When Good Intentions Backfire:
Here's the uncomfortable truth about good intentions: The very protection we believe demonstrates excellent leadership might actually be the thing limiting our team's growth.
When we shield people from challenge, we also shield them from the confidence that comes from navigating difficulty successfully. When we handle the tough conversations for them, we rob them of the skills they'll eventually need to lead others.
This isn't about throwing people to the wolves or abandoning them in impossible situations. It's about recognising when our protective instincts are actually protective of the wrong person.
Self-Awareness Questions for Leaders: Breaking the Protection Pattern:
Leading with intention means getting honest about our motivations, even when - especially when - they feel noble on the surface.
The next time you find yourself stepping in to "protect" your team, pause and ask these leadership development questions:
Am I truly serving their best interests, or am I serving my own need to stay in control?
What growth opportunity might I be removing from them?
What am I afraid will happen if I let them handle this themselves?
How might my "protection" actually be limiting their development?
Empowering Team Growth Through Strategic Support:
Sometimes the most supportive thing we can do as leaders is to step back and let our people discover what they're capable of.
This shift from protection to empowerment doesn't mean abandoning your team. Instead, it means:
Coaching them through difficult situations rather than handling them yourself
Preparing them for challenging conversations instead of having those conversations for them
Being available for support while allowing them to take the lead
Trusting their capacity to grow through managed challenges
The goal isn't to expose your team to unnecessary stress, but to recognise when your well-intentioned protection has become their limitation.