The Old Model: When I Thought Leadership Meant Doing It Alone

Early in my career, I thought the best way to show up strong in a Function 360 was to do it alone. Take all the questions. Defend all the slides. Keep my team out of the spotlight so they could stay focused on the work.

I thought that was leadership—shielding the team, owning the message, proving I had it under control.
And for a while, it worked. But over time, I realized something:

Solo performances don’t scale. And they don’t build leaders.

The Breakthrough: What I Realized – The Myth of “Owning the Room”

There’s a lot of pressure in IT leadership to appear in control.

We don’t want to expose gaps. We over-prepare. Rehearse every talking point. Try to predict every question.

We tell ourselves: “I’ve got this.”

But when you do it all yourself:

• Your team doesn’t grow.
• They miss how decisions are made.
• They don’t learn how to tell the story of their own work.

And you become the single point of strength—until you’re stretched too thin to hold it all.

Once I shifted how I approached Function 360, everything changed.

The Shift: Function 360s as a Management Discipline

Here’s what I wish I had understood earlier:

Function 360s aren’t just a way to report up to the CIO. They’re a leadership discipline—and they should be used inside the function, not just outside of it.

When your team uses the Function 360 rhythm as part of how they operate—not just how they present—you get:

• Shared ownership. Everyone understands the bigger picture.
• Reduced prep time. Because the conversation is ongoing, not a one-time event.
• Deeper capability. Everyone gets practice speaking to their work, explaining impact, and making decisions in context.

That’s when the Function 360 stops being a deck—and starts becoming a muscle.

What It Looks Like in Practice

When I made the shift, we built a routine where team leads owned their parts of the story:

• Finance partners explained variances and forecast changes.
• Portfolio leads shared delivery risks and tradeoffs.
• Functional leads talked through headcount gaps and structural shifts.

I still led the conversation. But I wasn’t the only one speaking. And more importantly, I wasn’t the only one learning.

This is about building a system that supports growth within your team. That means:

• Previewing the audience. Who’s in the room? What will they care about?
• Setting expectations. “Here’s your section. Keep it sharp. I’ll cover the frame—you own the detail.”
• Coaching after. What landed? What didn’t? How do we sharpen it for next time?

Yes, it takes more prep at first. But it pays off fast.

Because now, I don’t just run better reviews, I lead a stronger, more capable function.

Final Thought: Stop Doing It Alone

If you’re still doing it all yourself, stop and ask why.

Is it habit? Control? Lack of trust?

Whatever the reason, it’s worth unpacking.

Because leadership isn’t about being the only one who can lead the room. It’s about building a team that can do it with you—and eventually, without you.