Here's a lesson you quickly learn when you are new to leadership or management: you are probably not the best and most skilled at everything your team does. In fact, if you're doing your job right, you shouldn't be.

This realisation can feel confronting.

When you've just been promoted, it is easy to believe that you're supposed to be the expert, the one with all the answers. So, now that you’re seeing other people’s work up close and you realise that half the team seems to be more technically skilled than you are, how does it feel?

Do you feel like a fraud? Do you worry that the team will question your authority? Are you doubting that you’re up to the job?

I remember those feelings vividly from my own transition to management. I'd spent several years building expertise as a lawyer, and suddenly I was leading people who were better at certain aspects of the work than I was.

It was unsettling, to say the least.

But in time I learned that having team members who are better than you at specific things isn't damaging. It's exactly how leadership is supposed to work.

And, as some of those people begin to move up the ladder themselves, you’ll find that as long as you treated them well, you’ll have allies for life.

When you're an individual operator, your value comes from what you can do. You solve problems. You deliver results. You display your expertise. Those are the things that got you promoted.

But management is different.

Your job isn't to be the best technical person anymore. Your job is to create the conditions where your team can do their best work.

If you are a long-term reader, you know I often resort to sporting or musical analogies, and here comes one now.

You can think about it this way: the manager of a football team doesn't need to be the best player; in fact they may not have even been an elite player at all. Their job is to understand how to get the best out of their players, how to build a cohesive team, and how to make strategic decisions.

The same applies to you.

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Your team members might have superior technical skills in some areas. But they don't have your perspective.

You bring (or will be developing):

These aren't lesser skills. It is just that you now just have a different toolkit.

If you’re still feeling like the imposter in the room, it is worth knowing that acknowledging your team members' superior skills actually builds your credibility. It doesn’t undermine it.

When you openly recognise your team members’ expertise, you demonstrate:

The bottom line is that managers who pretend to know it all, who can't admit when they're wrong, and who feel threatened by talented team members are not leaders at all.

So how do you lead people who are better than you in practice? Here are 5 actions you can take:

Ask good questions. You don't need all the answers. You need to ask questions that help your team think through problems more clearly. Questions like: "What would a good outcome be here?" "What are we not considering?" "What would you recommend?"

Create clarity: Your technical experts can get lost in the details. You can help them see the bigger picture, understand relative priorities, and focus their skills where they'll have the most impact.

Remove obstacles: Remember, your job is about creating the conditions for excellence. That might mean securing resources, managing stakeholders, or dealing with bureaucracy. These are the leadership tasks that you have been selected for.

Develop them: Your technical stars might be brilliant at what they do, but that doesn't mean there aren’t areas they grow in. You can give them exposure to different stakeholders, help them develop new skills, or support them with their career goals.

Protect their time: Shield them from unnecessary distractions. Your expertise in navigation and prioritisation lets them focus their expertise where it matters most.

The best leaders don't have to have the best individual skills. But the best leaders build the best teams.

Your success isn't measured by how much you personally know, but by what you facilitate and by what your team achieves together.

So, you can stop worrying about being the technical expert and start focusing on being the leader who creates an environment where experts can thrive.

Because that's what leadership actually is.

All of my posts for new leaders are here.

Coaching - I have a few spots available for 1 to 1 coaching. I can help you with any of the people leadership challenges you might be facing. There are more details here.