Frank Abagnale Jr.—yes, the real-life con artist behind Catch Me If You Can—pulled off many impersonations, but one of the most surprising was that of a doctor. What’s even more fascinating is that, despite knowing nothing about medicine, he quickly became known as an excellent supervisor for interns.

How?
Not by pretending to be the smartest person in the room… but by asking the smartest questions.

Instead of instructing interns, he asked them what they thought. If someone hesitated, he turned to the others: “Why do you agree? Why not?” He created an environment where the team challenged one another, defended decisions, and learned through thinking—not by being told. And it worked. The interns grew, the decisions improved, and the team got stronger.

I’ve been watching a similar story unfold in a very different world: software development.

A client of mine, a project manager, has a newly promoted senior developer who’s struggling. Not with coding—he’s great at that—but with the shift to leadership. Instead of guiding developers, he jumps into every bug like a lifeguard diving into crashing waves. He grabs the problem, fixes what he sees, and assumes the crisis is over. Sometimes it is. Often, it isn’t.

Why?
Because he’s acting like the hero.
But the team doesn’t need another hero. They need a coach.

A senior developer’s power doesn’t come from knowing every line of code written by every teammate. It comes from establishing standards, asking the right questions, and helping each developer learn to navigate their own code. Leadership in development isn’t reactive—it’s preventative. It means talking through designs before the code exists, and walking through issues with the developer, not instead of them.

And he’s not alone. Many new managers believe they were promoted to be the expert problem-solver. In reality, they were promoted to help others become experts.

Here’s the real lesson:

You don’t need to know everything to be an effective manager.
But you do need to know how to listen, ask, and create space for others to think.

That’s what builds teams that grow stronger—not through heroics, but through empowerment.

If you’re ready to learn how to coach rather than rescue, and how to develop people instead of just solving problems, I’d be happy to help.