A White Christmas song got stuck in my head - yes, in March, musical theater has no season. 😉

A White Christmas song got stuck in my head - yes, in March, musical theater has no season. 😉

The song: "Falling Out of Love Can Be Fun."

The premise: a woman's love affair has ended, and she's upset. But the older, wiser character says, hey, this can be exciting. Because when something ends, something else opens up. New possibilities. A horizon you couldn't even see when you were so focused on what was right in front of you. The sadness, she argues, is optional. The fun part is looking forward.

The song is about romantic love, of course. But I think we've all had that experience where we fall a little "in love" with certain parts of our jobs.

And then when we step into a bigger role - more responsibility, a larger team, a broader mandate - almost always, something has to be left behind. The hands-on work. The in-the-weeds stuff we were genuinely good at. The things that made us feel like the most valuable person in the room.

I used to think being the one who led every client call, who talked the most in every team meeting, made me indispensable. It took me a while to realize that holding on to all of that was actually what was keeping me from fully stepping into leadership.

Letting go felt like loss. And then I turned around and saw what I was walking toward.

Delegating isn't losing the doing. It's buying yourself the space to actually lead.
Falling out of love with the weeds can be really fun. Especially when you see what's on the other side.

What's one thing you had to fall out of love with to step into the current version of your leadership?

P.S. I had the special joy of working with Karen Morrow on the Boston production of White Christmas back in 2005. Image is me with my memorabilia from that show, along with a link to Karen singing this song.

📌 Karen Morrow singing “Falling Out of Love Can Be Fun" https://youtu.be/z1KerdgPL3g?si=l1FeW_Vr_XZjLrb6