The Leadership Incubator Method

How to Develop Tomorrow's Leaders Before You Need Them Today

A few years ago, I found myself in the middle of a heated confrontation that would fundamentally change how I think about leadership development.

My best developer - let's call him Alex - was consistently delivering exceptional code. Clean architecture, innovative solutions, mentoring junior developers on technical challenges. The team loved working with him, and honestly, he made my job easier every single day.

That's why I was blindsided when three of his teammates cornered me after a sprint retrospective.

"Josh, we need to talk about Alex."

"What about him? He's crushing it."

"Exactly. Why haven't you promoted him to team lead yet? It's honestly insulting at this point."

The frustration in their voices was real. They'd been building up to this conversation for weeks, maybe months. In their minds, the logic was bulletproof: best developer equals best leader. Case closed.

I asked them to give me a week.

The Question That Changed Everything

Instead of defending my decision, I decided to flip the script. I called a team meeting with one simple challenge:

"You want Alex as your leader. I get it. But I want you to help me understand something. Make a list of everything you value in a great leader that has absolutely nothing to do with the code they write."

The room went quiet.

"Seriously," I continued. "Forget technical skills entirely. What leadership qualities do you actually need from someone in that role?"

What followed was messy, uncomfortable, and transformative.

The first attempt was predictable: "Someone who can help us solve hard technical problems."

"Nope. That's coding. Try again."

"Someone who knows the architecture better than anyone else."

"Still coding. Keep going."

It took three sessions before we started getting to the real stuff:

• Someone who can have difficult conversations when team dynamics get toxic

• Someone who can translate business priorities into work we actually care about

• Someone who can fight for the team when leadership makes unrealistic demands

• Someone who can coach people through career growth, not just technical growth

• Someone who can make decisions when the team is stuck and time is running out

• Someone who can build psychological safety so people feel comfortable taking risks