Your Seat Shapes Your View: Leading with the Right Perspective

I was coaching a newly promoted leader who had excelled as a team manager. Now, as a mid-level leader overseeing several managers, he found himself caught in the weeds—jumping in to solve team problems and firefight daily issues. “It’s how I’ve always added value,” he said. But in his new seat, his job wasn’t to solve—it was to think bigger, develop his leaders, and align with division strategy.

This happens often. Leaders moving into higher roles are rarely given the tools or clarity to shift their mindset. Yet each leadership level demands a different perspective, focus, and set of stakeholders. Without this shift, even the most talented leaders can struggle.

In today’s world of rapid change—new technologies, shifting customer expectations, hybrid workforces—adapting to your seat isn’t just helpful. It’s essential.

Let’s look at the five leadership seats and what it takes to lead effectively from each.

1)        Leading Yourself (Individual Contributor)

Leadership here is personal. It’s about managing your time and energy, becoming more effective and efficient, and setting yourself up for future growth. Your stakeholders include your manager and yourself.

Key Question to Ask: Am I delivering results while building habits that make me more effective in the long term?

Example: One analyst I coached struggled to prioritize. Together, we designed a weekly plan that gave him clarity. By focusing on high-impact work and managing his energy, he not only excelled but gained his manager’s trust.

2)        Leading Others (Front-Line Manager)

Here, your focus shifts from doing the work to enabling others to succeed. Your stakeholders are team members and mid-level leaders while your peers become other front-line managers.

Key Question to Ask: Am I creating clarity and space for my team to thrive while aligning with department goals?

Example: A new team lead I worked with was overwhelmed trying to solve her team’s problems. When she began asking coaching questions like “What do you think?” her team’s problem-solving abilities, independence, and confidence increased.

3)        Leading Leaders (Mid-Level Leader)

This level is about multiplying leadership. Stakeholders become senior leadership, other managers, and cross-functional peers.

Key Question to Ask: Am I equipping my leaders to lead without me in balancing strategy and team execution?

Example: One manager shifted her mindset from hands-on to developing her team leaders. She helped them see how their efforts aligned to division priorities and began focusing on more strategy and helping her team meet KPIs.

4)        Leading Divisions (Senior Leader)

Your role is to align a portfolio of teams with organizational strategy. Stakeholders include executives, other divisions, external partners.

Key Question to Ask: Am I connecting division priorities to organizational strategy? Am I building cohesion across teams?

Example: A division head determined customer satisfaction needed to improve. She realized she need to retool KPIs to prioritize customer satisfaction. She led with transparency—explaining the why, listening to concerns, and aligning her teams for success.

5)        Leading the Organization (Executive/CEO)

At the top, you shape vision, culture, and external relationships. Stakeholders: board, investors, regulators, the entire organization.

Key Question to Ask: Does our strategy reflect market shifts, customer needs, and organizational strengths while holding true to our values and culture?

Example: A CEO I coached struggled to explain a tough product-line decision. It was a smart strategic decision yet impacted some many in the organization. By continually sharing the why behind the decision and giving employees time to process the change, they turned resistance into commitment.

Why Perspective Matters

At each level, your success depends on seeing differently: higher seats require broader focus, more people means multiplying leadership, and perspective shifts define your impact. For a deeper dive, this article was based on an excellent framework for understanding these transitions called “The Leadership Pipeline” by Charan, Drotter & Noel.