Reveal the damage
You may have to make drastic steps to convince your heroes that things need to change, but you don't want to cause disaster.
Your heroes might not accept that their behaviour is damaging: being a hero might be part of their identify, how they see themselves at work. You need to find ways to show them (and potentially your org, as part of building a business care) why the way they operate is unhelpful.
- Ban them from working overtime: cut off their access to buildings or systems if necessary.
- Ask your team to stop involving them in some or all of the problem-solving discussions they’re currently involved in.
- Choose other people on your team to help troubleshoot next time an issue arises.
Whatever you choose, the result is inevitably going to be worse than if you’d left your hero in the loop: something bad will happen. That’s critical - you need to show why having them cover every base is a big risk. But you also need to tread carefully - try to limit the scope of what goes wrong to something that’s not completely mission critical, or you’ll just shoot yourself in the foot.
When to take this action
This action is from 'No heroics' and should be used when a small number of people on your team are involved in everything, when you're worried about succession planning, when you're managing risks
Need something else?
personal-development
Who are your heroes?
Constant heroics lead to long term damage. Who are your constant heroes and how risky is their behaviour?
personal-development
Look for new battles
Prepare to reassure your heroes by looking for new opportunities to engage and excite them. Help them feel valued even as you change their roles.
one-to-ones
Offer reassurance
Keep your heroes onside while you reduce the risk they create.
with-your-boss
Enlist support
Help your boss understand what you're doing, and build a case for change together.