The art of making yourself useless

1. Step 1: Find the hidden heroes.

Every company has them - the people whose names keep popping up when something actually works.

You don’t recruit them. You hear about them.

They’re the quiet doers, the ones who turned “this Excel thing” into an actual workflow, or who built the dashboard nobody thought was possible.

Your job? Spot them. Support them. And then, mostly, stay out of their way.

2. Step 2: Share a vision they can believe in.

Not a Powerpoint vision. A human one.

The kind that makes people say, “I want to be part of that.”

When someone tells you that your roadmap made them want to contribute - that’s the real compliment.

3. Step 3: Pass them the mic.

Let them shine in front of sponsors, leaders, the whole room.

You’re not the hero of the story - you’re the person who spotted the heroes. (That’s a good day.)

The real KPI of a transformation lead? How many people the sponsors remember by name - and ideally it’s not just yours.

4. Step 4: Become unnecessary.

Shift your goal from “accelerate their impact” to “make them unstoppable without me.” 

One day the team should run perfectly without you. Nobody who needs your validation, your calendar, or your reminders.

And for a second, you will probably wonder if that’s good news or early retirement.

Spoiler: it’s good news: that’s when the system starts to flow on its own - people, tools, and ideas aligning naturally, without anyone conducting.

And between us… I’m not quite there yet.

But that’s the beauty of transformation - you’re always training your own replacement.