How Leaders Accidentally Create Expensive Problems, and the Three Shifts That Fix Them
The leadership mindset upgrades that protect performance, strengthen teams, and prevent avoidable drag in 2026.
Most leaders don’t set out to create costly problems.
And yet, year after year, organisations lose time, energy, and momentum because their leaders’ mindset hasn’t evolved to match the complexity of what their role now requires.
The reality is simple:
The most expensive problems inside teams are often:
Operational
Cultural
Leadership-related, and often unintentional.
Slow decision-making, unclear expectations, dependency loops, disengagement, rework, and constant firefighting often begin as leadership habits.
And here’s the truth:
You don’t get different outcomes in 2026 with the same leadership mindset from 2025.
The leaders who thrive next year won’t simply work harder.
They’ll think differently - in three very specific ways.
These three mindset shifts come directly from the Momentum Framework (Deliver → Grow → Optimise). Together, they move leaders from reactive and overwhelmed… to clear, confident, and impactful.
And with each shift, the organisation recovers time, strengthens capability, and removes friction that quietly undermines performance and morale.
Let’s walk through them.
1. DELIVER: From “Doing the Work” to “Creating the Plan So the Work Gets Done”
The mindset shift from operator → orchestrator
This is one of the most expensive and least recognised leadership problems:
Leaders doing the work instead of designing the work.
It feels helpful, faster and easier in the moment. But over time it creates:
dependency
slow delivery
repeated issues
unclear ownership
a leader who is spread too thin to lead proactively and strategically
The habit that once made someone successful becomes the ceiling that limits their impact.
To shift out of this trap, leaders move from:
“I need to get this done” → “I need to ensure this gets done.”
“I’ll fix it” → “Let’s clarify the plan so my team can fix it.”
Being the engine → Being the architect.
This change creates:
a clear plan and expectations
progress that doesn’t rely on the leader’s presence
accountability that feels supportive, not stressful
smoother execution across the board
The organisational impact:
Less rework, fewer delays, better prioritisation, and a leader who stops being the bottleneck and becomes the source of momentum.
This is the foundation of the Momentum Framework’s Deliver stage; where clarity becomes one of the most powerful (and profitable) leadership tools.
2. GROW: From “Hoping for the Right People” to “Intentionally Finding and Developing Motivated People”
The mindset shift from passive → purposeful leadership
Another costly problem leaders accidentally create?
Expecting people to perform at a high standard without developing them to that standard.
Benchmarks cited by SHL show each employee contributes around 3x their salary in business value per year, so if they're performing under the benchmark, or you’re carrying vacancies due to turnover, it's hurting your bottom line.
When leaders hope for capability instead of building capability, they experience:
the wrong match of skills and interests for the job
inconsistent work quality
hesitation instead of initiative
high dependence on the leader
frustration that feels personal instead of systemic
The leaders who thrive in 2026 will shift their mindset from default to intention.
They recognise:
talent is identified on purpose
motivation grows in environments where people feel supported
capability gaps shrink through regular feedback and coaching
development is a rhythm, not an event
This is the Momentum Framework’s Grow stage (Hire, Onboard, Develop) and it’s where teams experience the most visible transformation.
Because most teams don’t lack ability or potential, they lack a leader who grows that potential consistently.
When leaders make this shift, they gain:
a more engaged team
stronger initiative
higher-quality contributions
greater ownership
less pressure falling back onto them
The organisational impact:
A steadier team, fewer performance surprises, reduced turnover risk, and a culture that builds capability from within rather than constantly sourcing it from outside.
3. OPTIMISE: From Being “Always Available” to Building Independence and Capacity in the Team
The mindset shift from short-term survival → long-term confidence
This is one of the most quietly expensive leadership patterns:
a leader who is always available.
It sounds supportive, but it creates dependency.
It sounds helpful, but it drains team confidence.
It sounds harmless, but it erodes the leader’s ability to think, plan, and operate strategically.
Leaders who stay in this pattern experience:
constant interruptions
decision fatigue
a team that waits instead of moves
a workload that never decreases
The shift is about stepping forward in a way that builds the structures for sustainability in how your team operates.
It looks like:
ad-hoc development → ongoing, structured growth
individual reliance → planned continuity and succession
leader-managed processes → team-owned systems
firefighting disruptions → proactive, streamlined operations
This is the Momentum Framework’s Optimise stage (Support, Scaffolding, Systemise).
When leaders adopt this mindset, three things happen:
They regain space to lead strategically instead of reactively.
Their team becomes more confident, capable, and resilient.
The organisation becomes stronger and less vulnerable to disruption.
The organisational impact:
Teams working more independently, with fewer disruptions and smoother operation - and a leader whose attention is finally aligned with the work that matters most.
The problems are expensive. The shifts are transformative.
These three leadership patterns (doing instead of directing, hoping instead of developing, chaos instead of intention) cost organisations far more than most leaders realise.
The good news?
They’re completely fixable.
And when they shift, everything downstream shifts as well.
That’s why we created LEAD LAB®: a 12-month online leadership development program that builds these capabilities step-by-step using the Momentum Framework.
It gives leaders the clarity, structure, and support they need to lead with greater ease, confidence, and impact - without slipping back into old habits.
If you want 2026 to feel more intentional and less reactive…
If you want a team that takes ownership rather than waits for direction…
If you want to lead with steadiness instead of strain…
These are the shifts, and LEAD LAB® is where you learn to embed them.
Learn more and join LEAD LAB® here.