raygelogic

I lead a software dev team at a small startup. One of my direct reports is way smarter than me. They come up with clever, simple solutions to business needs. They're also really driven, and will do things like find out what our stakeholders need and create the specs and do planning for those things. Generally we are a team and communicate pretty well on those things, but most of the time I'm left feeling like I'm not adding much value. Usually, they're the one rejecting ideas and having better ones.

That said, they tend to get overwhelmed easily (a bit of overthinking at times), and I'm much more comfortable communicating with leadership/presenting ideas to the company, etc. So I wouldn't recommend they step into management just yet.

Really what I want is to continue leading the team as best I can, and not let my ego interfere. But I guess I'm wondering how to best manage this person. Do I just sit back and let them do their thing? Try harder to meet them at their level and challenge them? How would you all like to be managed if you were in their position?