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I've done this. I lead a lean team and took parental leave last year. * Start now by trusting your team with absolutely anything you can. For about 2 months be

I've done this. I lead a lean team and took parental leave last year. * Start now by trusting your team with absolutely anything you can. For about 2 months before my leave, I was extremely explicit with my team that I was attempting to deprecate myself. I wanted feedback on what they thought were risks. * Consider using the time for someone else to "test try" your job. Think someone would be interested in being a manager, it's their time to try it. You will need to be explicitly clear that they own your job while you're out and they will need to make changes as they see fit. * Ask your boss or peer to do 1:1's with the person stepping in your place ----- On my team, this was pretty successful. It created an opportunity for me to step to the next level and someone else to follow in behind me. That situation won't be true for all teams. However, startups are intended to grow. Grow your people now, so you're ready when you really need them.

CodeWriter23 4y ago
Haven’t experienced this myself but I was contemplating the possibility of subordinate team members executing well in your absence and ending up with your job. Glad there was a higher place up for you. Where I am I already report to the CEO, the only “up” for me would be some sort of coup.
joshgachnang 4y ago
Thanks for posting this! I'm CTO at a pretty new startup and hopefully going to be on paternity leave next year. This makes me feel a little bit better about it and seems like a great approach.
- jnovek 4y ago
  As someone who has been a new CTO before: I suggest you practice delegating. It will be great for your parental leave and, as you outgrow your current responsibilities, you’ll need those skills. This is especially true if you were previously a good team-facing manager. When you’re accustomed to protecting your team’s productivity and well-being, delegating can feel very unnatural.
  - yjftsjthsd-h 4y ago
    Also, if the company does well you absolutely have to be able to delegate or you'll quickly become a bottleneck, as the company and people who work under you scale out and you remain single threaded.
- SkyPuncher 4y ago
  Adding on top my earlier comment. One of the best things about parental leave was it felt like I was coming back to the open slate of a new job, but was already familiar with the company/culture/etc. Since my team had taken over all of my responsibilities, it helped me realized what I didn't have to do so I could focus on the broader picture.
jxramos 4y ago
I second this. When our boss on my team went on maternity leave one of the teammates stepped up to take on her role and get that slice of managerial experience. It worked pretty well for everyone involved and kept the ball rolling.
solarmist 4y ago
Saving this comment for later. Excellent game plan.

CodeWriter23 4y ago

Haven’t experienced this myself but I was contemplating the possibility of subordinate team members executing well in your absence and ending up with your job. Glad there was a higher place up for you. Where I am I already report to the CEO, the only “up” for me would be some sort of coup.

joshgachnang 4y ago

Thanks for posting this! I'm CTO at a pretty new startup and hopefully going to be on paternity leave next year. This makes me feel a little bit better about it and seems like a great approach.

jnovek 4y ago
As someone who has been a new CTO before: I suggest you practice delegating. It will be great for your parental leave and, as you outgrow your current responsibilities, you’ll need those skills. This is especially true if you were previously a good team-facing manager. When you’re accustomed to protecting your team’s productivity and well-being, delegating can feel very unnatural.
- yjftsjthsd-h 4y ago
  Also, if the company does well you absolutely have to be able to delegate or you'll quickly become a bottleneck, as the company and people who work under you scale out and you remain single threaded.
SkyPuncher 4y ago
Adding on top my earlier comment. One of the best things about parental leave was it felt like I was coming back to the open slate of a new job, but was already familiar with the company/culture/etc. Since my team had taken over all of my responsibilities, it helped me realized what I didn't have to do so I could focus on the broader picture.

jxramos 4y ago

I second this. When our boss on my team went on maternity leave one of the teammates stepped up to take on her role and get that slice of managerial experience. It worked pretty well for everyone involved and kept the ball rolling.

solarmist 4y ago

Saving this comment for later. Excellent game plan.