When You Stop Controlling, Leaders Grow

My oldest daughter just wrapped up her sophomore year by serving as the student director for her high school musical.

It was a year of ups and downs, full of tears, late nights, scheduling chaos, and teenage drama (literally). She was responsible for helping shape the production, keeping the cast and crew moving, managing a budget, and delivering on a deadline.

There were so many moments where I wanted to step in, to fix things, offer advice, or talk to the teacher. But I remembered how much I grew when I was given the space to figure it out for myself. So I held back.

After opening night, she was glowing. She was expecting disaster, but it all came together beautifully.

She learned how to delegate, how to organize chaos, and how to keep people aligned even when things got hard.

She learned what real leadership costs, and what it makes possible.

And I was reminded of something I see with so many leaders:

We want control. But growth comes when we let others wrestle with real responsibility.

If we want to multiply leaders, we have to let people grow through the pain into success.

I’m so proud of her.