Let the Work Take the Bow

You’ve probably heard the old saying: “Your job is to make your boss look good.”

It’s trotted out in mentoring sessions, whispered in corridors, sometimes even delivered as career advice. But let’s be honest: it always sounds a little dodgy, like you’ve been hired to be a professional ego-polisher.

The truth is, making the boss look good isn’t the point. What matters is where they point the spotlight.

Who Gets the Light?

Picture two leaders on a stage.

Leader One positions themselves dead-centre under the brightest spotlight. The team stands behind them in the shadows, their faces barely visible. The applause rolls in, but it’s thin. The audience senses that the “star” isn’t a solo act, but the supporting cast has been shoved offstage.

Leader Two takes a different approach. They tilt the spotlight down to where the real action is happening—the people who wrote the lines, built the set, carried the props, and made the performance sing. The audience sees the whole cast. The applause thunders.

When leaders shine the light on their team, the glow inevitably reflects back on them. They don’t have to jostle for attention or demand recognition. The credit naturally finds its way home.

The Myth of “Looking Good”

If your role is only to make your boss look good, you spend a lot of time covering for their mistakes, laughing at their jokes, and running interference for their missteps. That’s exhausting. Worse, it creates a culture where people are hesitant to be honest because the real goal isn’t doing good work—it’s doing good PR.

But when your boss focuses on making you look good? Magic happens. The team feels valued, achievements are shared, and people want to contribute more. The leader ends up looking great anyway—without needing their staff to constantly buff up their image.

The Real Job

So let’s retire the outdated advice. Your job isn’t to make your boss look good. And your boss’s job isn’t to steal the limelight.

The real work is about shining the light in the right places: on effort, on results, on growth, on the people who actually make things happen.

Because when the team shines, everyone looks good.