Sharing the hammer is harder than it sounds. Not because others can’t swing, but because we get used to believing precision comes from control. When you’ve built systems for years, held responsibility for outcomes, or been known as the one who delivers in pressure, handing the hammer to someone else doesn’t feel like collaboration. It feels like risk.
The truth is simple. You don’t prove leadership by gripping tighter. You prove it by resisting the urge to intervene when someone else picks up the strike. Not because they’ll do it perfectly. They won’t. But neither did you the first hundred times.
I once watched a new analyst attempt to build a Configurable Join I had written more times than I could possibly remember. Their swing was slow. Paused too often. Misplaced a few filters that I could have fixed in seconds. I stepped in mentally before stepping in physically. Then I caught myself. If I took the hammer back, they’d learn nothing but my impatience.
Instead, I gave direction only when they asked. It took longer. They caught their own mistake before I pointed it out. A couple months later, they rebuilt the logic faster than I could. That moment didn’t make me weaker. It multiplied what the forge could produce.
There’s another side to this. Sometimes you share the hammer not because someone else needs the experience, but because you need the release. I spent years carrying urgency to the point that I believed if I let go, everything would falter. That belief was arrogance disguised as accountability. When I finally handed large swaths of responsibility for new student onboarding, part of me expected friction if not failure. It didn’t fail. It improved. And I was forced to confront that my grip had become a source of constraint, not strength.
Sharing the hammer takes confidence that the forge can endure pressure from more than one hand. It also demands that you accept the approach, the swing, and the outcome may be different than yours. Different isn’t always worse. Sometimes different becomes the next standard.
Today, choose one task or decision you would normally keep under your full control. Let someone else take that first swing. And when they do, wait before correcting. Instead of watching for error, listen for capability. Let your spark speak, and let us know in the comments or DM me. What was that one thing? And how did it feel watching someone else work that metal?
Let your stride settle into the fact that not every tool requires your grip. Some signals of strength arrive when your hand isn’t on the handle.
And that’s The Ember Walk. The forge is yours now. Go make something worth the heat… Or at least let someone else do it.
