Ben MortonLeadership Trainer, Coach and Speaker

Leadership fails when you’re stuck in the weeds.

24 Apr 2026 · 1 min

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In this segment of his YouTube video, Ben Morton draws on his Army experience to warn modern leaders against becoming mired in day‑to‑day firefighting. He explains that when leaders are constantly solving every problem for their team, they lose sight of the bigger picture, relinquish control, and shift from commanding to merely fighting. While emphasizing the danger of perpetual hands‑on involvement, Morton clarifies that leaders should still intervene at critical moments, balancing strategic oversight with selective, purposeful action.

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Because if you're in the middle of the fighting, you start to lose sight of the bigger picture, and you can't see what's unfolding. Ultimately, this means you lose control. And this is something I was taught very early on in my Army career. If you're fighting, you're not commanding. And the same is true for us as leaders today, right? If we're constantly in the weeds, doing the doing, solving every problem and issue for our team, then we start to lose perspective. We too don't see the bigger picture, and then we just start reacting and become stuck in firefighting mode, and that means we're not leading. But, and this is important, it doesn't mean that leaders should never get involved, because there absolutely are moments and times when we need to step in.