The Firefighting Trap: Why most managers never escape the chaos
Are you in this trap?
Hey team,
At risk of sounding like a broken record, I’m down in London again this week, but this time to LAUNCH MY BOOK. Eek. It’s finally July which means two things…
It’s ALMOST time for Your Boss Era to start dropping on your door steps.
Order now to get your copy on launch day.It’s officially my birthday month 💁♀️
But, let’s get back to the important matter at hand…
Most managers operate like firefighters. I’m not judging (trust me I’ve been there too).
Always reacting, solving, and stepping in. And it makes us feel useful... until we burn out.
But the best leaders, they step back and build. Build like an architect.
They set up systems, shape behaviours, and create environments that run without constant intervention.
The know they must be FIERCE with their time, their calendar and their focus.
Every manager is operating in a Firefighting Zone or an Architect Zone.
And where you sit determines everything: Your team’s growth, your career progress, and especially how you’re seen by senior leadership.
Most managers I work with aren’t struggling because they’re not trying hard enough.
They’re struggling because they’re stuck in the Firefighting Zone, a reactive mode where everything feels urgent, personal, and completely dependent on you.
So here’s how to spot it (and what to do to drag yourself out).
🔥 The Firefighting Zone vs. The Architect Zone
Fire Zone Managers jump in constantly. They solve, fix, chase, remind, re-explain. It feels noble. Helpful. Responsible.
But it builds a team that waits, depends, or even resents you.Architect Zone Managers step back to design. They build processes, shape expectations, and make ownership visible.
They’re playing a longer game.
The 3 behaviours keeping us stuck
1. Over-answering questions
Every time you jump in with the answer, you teach your team one thing: Ask, and I’ll solve it.
You become the bottleneck without realising it.
Instead: Coach with curiosity. Try:
“What do you think the best option is?” or
“What would you do if I wasn’t here?”
It feels slower. But builds critical thinking, confidence, and ownership.
2. Fixing instead of feeding
When someone drops a problem on your desk, it’s tempting to take it and “sort it out.”
But if you keep clearing the path for them, they’ll never learn to walk it on their own.
Fixing makes you feel helpful, but it quietly disempowers your team.
Instead:
Ask what they’ve tried so far. Ask what they'd do next.
Support them in solving it, even if it's messy. It’s how real capability and competence is built.
3. Saying yes to win points (but losing respect)
You say yes to every request, every deadline, every “quick favour”, thinking it shows you’re committed and credible.
But the truth is, every unnecessary yes costs you long-term clarity, capacity, and confidence.
❌ People-pleasing feels generous, but it leads to resentment.
✅ Great managers protect their energy, their time, and their team's focus.
They say: “I can’t say yes to this without saying no to something else, so let’s prioritise together.”
What these 3 have in common:
They look helpful.
They feel fast.
But they’re keeping you in the Firefighting Zone, always reacting, always relied on, always overwhelmed.
Shifting into Architect Mode means slowing down and building better, so you don’t have to build it again tomorrow.
🧠 Final mindset shift:
“My job isn’t to do the work, it’s to design the environment where great work becomes inevitable.”
When you start thinking like this, you stop carrying the weight of your team on your back and start creating the systems, clarity, and culture that help them rise on their own.
If you want to become a great leader, you don’t earn the respect and value through your own output anymore. You earn it through the ripple effect of how your team performs when you're not in the room.
Architects don’t keep rebuilding the same wall. They build it right, once.
And leaders who think like architects create momentum that lasts longer than their presence.
Talk soon mofos,
H x
P.S.
Loved this piece!
So many businesses collapse due to the bottleneck effect, where one person (often the CEO) holds all the answers, makes all the decisions, and becomes the face of everything. It works… until it doesn’t. A one-man army can’t scale.
Systems are the golden ticket, not just for CEOs, but for every role, from sales coordinators to admin. When systems are in place, you’re not dependent on any one person.
Senior leaders shouldn’t be stuck firefighting. Their energy should go into building systems, scaling growth, and driving team performance.
Systems fuel the business, people bring that fuel to life.