Don’t Cling to Your Old Job After Being Promoted

As a leader, when you get promoted, the boundaries between the old and new role can easily blur. You were promoted because you excelled at your previous job, and letting go of that work can feel uncomfortable, almost like giving up part of your professional identity. But true advancement requires intentionally stepping into a new level of leadership, not doing two jobs at the same time.

Here are five ways to ensure you make a complete transition and empower your team to take ownership of the work you must leave behind.

1. Clarify Your New Scope and Authority

Even if more-senior leaders are clear on why you were promoted and what you now oversee, you may not be. Take time to understand exactly what falls under your new authority and what should be handled by others.

One of my clients, “Samantha,” was promoted to a C-suite position when her boss retired. She took on a broader scope of work that also encompassed her same department. Six months later, the CEO gave her some blunt feedback: After rising up the ranks for more than a decade and continually being praised, she wasn’t meeting expectations.

The problem wasn’t effort; it was focus. Samantha was still doing parts of her old job, attending meetings she should be delegating, and making decisions that should have been her successor’s to make. Her new direct reports felt micromanaged and her successor grew frustrated that Samantha kept interfering in work she should’ve handed off.

Had Samantha clarified her new scope when she was officially promoted, she could have avoided confusion and resentment. To do this, ask your new boss three questions:

• What value do you expect me to bring to this new position?

• How do you define the outcomes for which I’m accountable?

• How do you see this position as different from my predecessor’s?

These questions set the direction, tell you where to focus your attention, and inform a clear transition plan that supports both your team’s and your own growth.

2. Set a Clear Transition Date

Letting go of a previous job can be especially challenging if a successor hasn’t been hired or needs time to ramp up on culture and business priorities. But having a defined transition date is essential to prevent you from drifting between roles and continuing to handle work that no longer belongs to you.

Determine a specific transition date based on business needs, such as the beginning of a quarter, after a new hire has been onboarded for 60 to 90 days, or the end of a project you’re leading. When the transition time comes, communicate the plans explicitly to your direct reports, previous and new cross-functional stakeholders, and peers. A warm handoff on meetings includes introducing the person who’s taking over the work and clearly stating that you’ll no longer be attending. This signals confidence in your successor’s leadership and ensures others know whom to go to for what.

Equally important is explaining your new remit to colleagues who used to rely on you. If you skip this step, they may continue sending you requests out of habit or copying you on emails you don’t need in your inbox, and you may feel tempted to respond out of loyalty to existing relationships or familiarity with the subject matter. Clarifying boundaries politely but firmly prevents confusion and sets everyone up for success.

3. Articulate Your New Leadership Narrative

Moving from tactical execution to enterprise leadership can feel intangible. You no longer measure success by completing projects or solving daily problems, but by enabling others to deliver results and by advancing long-term goals. As you communicate your new role, develop a leadership narrative that conveys the strategic value you now bring to the organization.

Write down your leadership narrative as if you’re presenting it to your peers. Think about your role level and the language that corresponds with your seniority. As a senior leader, you’re not doing as much as being and providing thought leadership so others can execute. For example, a corporate analyst transitioning to the head of corporate strategy might position their narrative like so: “My role is to steer corporate strategy, strengthen cross-functional alignment on mergers and acquisitions, identify leading KPIs for M&A success, and provide thought leadership on key corporate initiatives that could impact our future growth and transformation.”

Writing down your narrative crystalizes your focus and helps you act as a steward of the company vision. One of my clients, “Joaquin,” moved from a marketing VP role to chief marketing officer. He wrote down his leadership narrative and created a presentation outlining how he intended to add value in his new position, then shared it with his new peers in leadership to align expectations. He discussed how he would be transitioning from shaping the company’s brand as a VP to connecting the brand with data and demand to drive enterprise growth as CMO. He ended by stating that the leaders overseeing brand, marketing, and customer experience would own their teams’ day-to-day decisions and outputs while he would ensure that their work focused on long-term outcomes that drive the business. The process helped his new peers understand both the unique value he offered and which responsibilities he would no longer handle personally. As a result, his colleagues knew when to turn to him and when to go to his team. The exercise reinforced him as a strategic leader, boosted his team’s credibility, and empowered his direct reports.

4. Redirect Inquiries Thoughtfully

This is the hardest part of taking on a higher-level position: resisting the urge to fix problems you could solve in minutes. When colleagues reach out to you with questions or for decisions tied to your old responsibilities, redirect them to the appropriate person rather than stepping in. Continuing to answer those questions keeps you tied to the past, makes your peers question whether you understand your level of responsibility, and undermines your team’s authority.

Redirecting inquiries and requests isn’t rude; it’s responsible leadership, no matter how deep your relationship with the person inquiring. If someone bypasses your successor, respond clearly and respectfully: “I appreciate you coming to me but that is Bernice’s decision. I trust her judgment.” This type of language sets a boundary and signals that you expect others to respect your team’s new structure. It also helps emerging leaders build confidence and credibility in their roles.

If you find people frequently skipping levels to reach you, consider why. Do they perceive gaps in decision-making? Do they lack clarity on who owns what? Address those issues directly with your team so you can step back without fear of things falling apart. Remember, your absence in the weeds allows others to step up and grow, and developing the next generation of leaders is a critical part of your new job. Not redirecting inquiries and continuing to “help” risks losing talented employees who feel disempowered. Delegation is about trust and ensuring the right leaders are in the right conversations, not just redistributing workload.

5. Invest in a Thought Partner

Even with best intentions, you may still find yourself slipping into old habits. In those moments, working with a thought partner like a trusted HR business partner or executive coach can help you strengthen self-awareness and adjust your leadership mindset.

A thought partner challenges your thinking, helps you uncover blind spots, and pushes you to evolve. They can guide you to dig deep and explore questions like:

• What am I afraid of letting go of?

• If I don’t let go, how will this negatively reflect on me or my team?

• What does strategic leadership look like for me?

• How do I build influence without direct control?

Your success in this new role hinges on shifting from tactical clarity to strategic ambiguity. You must find value not in doing, but in guiding, coaching, influencing, and developing others. Once you understand that leadership in your new role comes from influence rather than execution, a thought partner can help you refine your approach, design new communication habits, and craft language for setting boundaries without alienating colleagues.

. . .

Leadership growth is as much about identity as it is about skill. When you cling to your old job and make decisions that should be under someone else’s authority, you cling to a version of yourself who earned the promotion. To thrive at the next level, you must release that identity and embrace a new one.

Look at your promotion as an invitation to lead differently. If you keep doing what made you successful before, you limit your potential and your organization’s growth. But if you choose to advance your own leadership capabilities, you can multiply your impact.

Copyright 2025 Harvard Business School Publishing Corporation. Distributed by The New York Times Syndicate.

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