The Altitude Problem: Why Your Best Leaders Are Stuck
- 1 day ago
- 2 min read
I’m working harder than I’ve ever worked. And somehow I feel like I’m making less impact than when I was two levels below this.
I’ve heard some version of this from hundreds of leaders. Directors, VPs, GMs. People who were the ones who always came through, who got things done, who understood the details better than anyone in the room.
And that’s exactly the problem.
They got promoted because they were great at the job below this one. And now they’re still doing that job — plus the new one. They’re in the details, answering questions their team should be answering, reviewing work they don’t need to review, attending meetings that don’t need them.
I call this the altitude problem. And it shows up everywhere.
Think of it like a ladder. Every step up, there’s new work to take on. But most people never let go of the work from the step below. They just keep adding. Step after step. Until they’re hauling a hundred pounds of work that doesn’t belong at their level and wondering why they can’t get ahead of it.
The pattern is almost always the same:
→ 40-60% of their time is on work below their role level
→ They’re doing it because it’s comfortable, not because it’s necessary
→ Their expertise at the old level is actively preventing them from operating at the new one
→ Nobody told them the job changed — just that they got promoted
Here’s the reframe I give every leader who’s stuck in this pattern: every promotion is an expert-to-beginner transition. You spent years building expertise. Now your job is to build new skills on top of that foundation. Not replace who you are. Build on it.
But the building can’t start until you let go of the things that belong at the altitude below you. That’s the hardest part. Because those things are where you feel competent. They’re where you built your identity. And letting go of them feels like letting go of what makes you valuable.
It’s not. It’s making room for what makes you valuable next.
Where are you spending your time that’s below your altitude?
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