be a leader (before you get the title)

Hi,

When I got my learner’s permit, my dad insisted on being the one to teach me how to drive. We went to an empty parking lot where I white-knuckled my way through the basics. After an hour, he decided I was ready to get on the road — and dear reader, I was indeed not ready.

Stress sweating through two layers and my heart pounding like I was being hunted for sport, he guided me to the most affluent neighbourhood in town. I turned onto a quiet street and, with absolutely zero sense of spacing, proceeded to collide into the mirror of a parked BMW.

He enrolled me in professional driving lessons when we got home.

This experience is almost identical to what it feels like to move from an individual contributor to a management position. The demands are completely different. The responsibilities expand overnight. And yet, the transition rarely comes with formal training. Instead, most new managers are thrown onto the road and expected to figure it out.

So we start method acting. We study our own managers, adopt their habits, their phrases, their frameworks—even the questionable ones. We hope that with enough time, trial, and error, we’ll eventually become decent at it. This sink-or-swim approach might also explain why great managers are unicorns.

Of course, not everyone dreams of stepping into leadership. While management has traditionally been framed as the growth path, research shows that more Canadian companies are adapting to the demands of younger generations who want career growth without managing people.

But whether you want the title or not, we all still show up to work every day to solve problems, respond to change, and collaborate across teams. Those are leadership muscles.

Thinking like a leader doesn’t require direct reports. It requires better judgment and more confidence. It’s that good judgment that makes things much easier — from navigating messy projects to positioning yourself for bigger opportunities.

So how do you actually start thinking like a leader?

I gotchu.

1. Surface assumptions
   
   Every decision is built on assumptions. The fastest way to avoid going down the wrong path is to say yours out loud before you hit go.
   
   “I’m assuming the priority here is retention, not acquisition.”
   
   When you name an assumption, you show how you’re thinking and invite correction early. Leaders don’t hide or ignore assumptions. They put them on the table and test them early.
   
   
2. Show your process
   
   When you bring a recommendation, don’t just deliver the answer. Bring the thinking.
   
   What options did you explore?
   
   What did you rule out — and why?
   
   What tradeoffs are you accepting?
   
   "Here are the alternatives I explored and why they won’t work for this project. Here’s my recommendation, here’s what we gain, and here’s what we give up.”
   
   This tells your manager and stakeholders your reasoning, rather than guessing. And naming tradeoffs builds trust because it shows you’re aware of the full picture.
   
   It's strategic thinking in action.
   
   
3. Bring attention to what you don’t know
   
   Leading isn’t about being certain, it’s about managing risk.
   
   “Here’s what we still need to validate…”
   “We don’t yet know how this will impact…” Calling out unknowns shows maturity, not weakness. It signals that you’re thinking ahead.

If you’re an individual contributor, this earns you more autonomy, more trust, and more responsibility.

If you want to move into management, this is how you start doing the job early. This is how you reduce your manager’s decision load instead of adding to it, and that makes promoting you feel less like a gamble and more like the obvious next step.

Leaders are a lot of things. Sure, they manage people and complexity, but the best ones also optimize for the entire team. No resource hoarding. No siloed work. They’re the ones who notice what’s broken and fix it instead of telling someone else to.

Think like a leader. And also be the person who makes the whole system better.

Talk soon,

Ines

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