Why Capable People Are Reluctant to Lead - Chen Zhang, Jennifer D. Nahrgang, Susan J. Ashford, and D. Scott DeRue, HBR

This resource first appeared in issue #55 on 19 Dec 2020 and has tags Becoming A Manager: Managing Individuals, Becoming A Manager: Coaching

In a study of 400 MBA students, three risks held people back from stepping up to lead, in projects or in taking decisive action:

Interpersonal - risking friendship/collegial relationships
Image - “I don’t want to seem like a know-it-all”
Accountability - “I’ll be blamed for bad results”

As we try to make sure our team members have growth opportunities, and increase their scope by giving them more responsibility and project to manage, these are the key concerns they are likely to have (or, frankly, we are likely to have as we grow in our careers). To mitigate this, the authors suggest

Go the extra mile to support risk-sensitive team members
Manage conflict, and treat respectful conflict when it happens not as a catastrophe but a normal part of humans working together on things they care about
Give (or take!) increasing responsibility in small manageable increments