A CEO reached out, managing a fully remote team spread across time zones. Highly capable team. Deeply committed - to their own domains. Tech stayed in tech. Design focused on design. Tasks were delivered, meetings were productive. But something wasn’t clicking.
Client retention was starting to slip, and no one seemed to notice - or rather feel responsible.
The team wasn’t disengaged. They simply assumed someone else would take care of it.
The CEO, on the other hand, carried the weight silently - retention, churn, bonuses, runway - believing it was his job to shield the team from these pressures.
This is very common while managing tech teams. It’s something I’ve seen before.
A leadership pattern I’ve lived myself.
We often think the role of a good leader is to protect the team.
To absorb the financial tension, the strategic risk, the sleepless nights.
So the team can focus, stay motivated, and keep doing great work.
But there’s a fine line between protection and control.
And when we shield the team too much, we don’t just take on more - we cut them off from the opportunity to contribute where it matters most.
In this case, the team wasn’t thinking beyond their tasks because they weren’t invited into the larger picture. They didn’t see client retention as their responsibility - not because they didn’t care, but because they didn’t know how the pieces fit together.
What I suggested was simple: open the door.
Share the real situation - financials, churn, sustainability - and instead of giving orders, ask the team, what would you do?
Because that question changes everything.
It transforms a company from a chain of command into a shared effort.
When someone in the tech team proposes an idea to reduce churn, or improve quality, or add a meaningful feature - it’s no longer a task handed down. It’s ownership. It’s relevance. It’s co-creation.
We talk about responsibility all the time in leadership.
But we don’t talk enough about over-responsibility - when leaders quietly carry everything under the guise of care.
There’s nobility in wanting to take care of your people.
But withholding information, shielding them from challenges, and solving everything alone isn’t leadership.
It’s isolation.
And it keeps your team dependent, disengaged, and ultimately disconnected from the business they’re a part of.
Transparency isn’t weakness.
It’s structure. It’s trust.
It’s saying: I believe you can handle this. I believe you want to help.
Because the truth is: most people don’t want to just do their job.
They want to matter.
They want to be part of something real.
And they want to be invited in.
Note on the photo
Taken in February, West Estonia. I was pushing through snow, wind-chilled yet excited, and then - suddenly - quiet. This side of the castle was bare, kissed by unexpected sun, the snow already gone. It looked like a leader in its own time: proud, resolute… and deeply alone. I stood there longer than I thought I would.