Why High-Potential Managers Should Celebrate Employees Who Earn More Than Them

During my career in the event industry, I have been blessed to locate, mentor and watch many high potential colleagues become super achievers. But almost every time in their leadership journey, there comes the moment when they realize that someone on their team makes or may make more money than you. For many emerging or high-potential managers, it can spark insecurity at first. But for deserving leaders — those who lead through humility, courage, and service — it’s a moment of clarity. Because leadership isn’t about having the highest paycheck. It’s about building a team whose collective excellence lifts everyone higher — including you. High-potential managers are chosen for their future leadership capacity, not because they’ve reached the top of their earning curve. A key milestone for a high potential manager who can understand and say, “I’m proud that my team’s success makes them worth more than me right now,” is already well on their way of understanding deServing leadership.

However, for many new or rising managers, it can feel strange at first: leading someone who earns more than you. But here’s the truth every high-potential leader eventually learns — great managers don’t measure success by comparison; they measure it by impact.

Here are a few thoughts that underscore this mindset through the deServing leadership filter.

1. DeServing leaders multiply value, not ego: When you lead people who are the best at what they do — specialists, top performers, creative powerhouses — your job isn’t to outshine them. It’s to amplify them. You make their work more powerful through clarity, support, and alignment. You remove barriers. You create vision. You turn strong individuals into unstoppable teams. That’s what deserving leadership looks like — the confidence to let brilliance surround you without feeling diminished by it.

2. Pay Reflects Market Worth — Leadership Reflects Human Worth: High-performing employees often earn more because their craft commands a premium. It’s the market acknowledging their excellence — not devaluing your own. Your compensation represents trust, responsibility, and potential. Theirs reflects specialization and impact in the now. Deserving leaders understand both. They see that value wears many faces — and that their long-term growth comes from leading with purpose, not pride.

3. The Best Leaders Build Teams That Out-Earn Them: If your employees are growing, earning more, and expanding their impact, that’s your scoreboard as a leader. It means you built the environment where top performers could thrive. Deserving leaders celebrate that. They don’t shrink from their team’s success — they take pride in being the reason it was possible. Because the mark of a strong leader isn’t how bright they shine alone. It’s how brightly their team shines together. Think of it this way: if your team members’ growth surpasses yours, you’re doing something right. You’re building momentum that will eventually propel you higher, too.

4. Leadership Rewards Compound Over Time: Managerial pay doesn’t spike because of a single project or technical win — it rises with influence, strategic impact, and consistent leadership performance. While specialists earn for their skill, leaders earn for their stewardship. Deserving leadership is an investment. The more people you elevate, the more value follows you. Over time, your influence compounds into authority, impact, and yes — reward. High-potential managers who can recruit, retain, and lead top-tier talent are incredibly rare. That ability becomes your long-term advantage — and it’s why, over time, you’ll outpace most individual contributors in both scope and reward.

5. Confidence Creates Culture: When leaders embrace the idea that value takes many forms — not just a number on a paycheck — they foster a culture of mutual respect and psychological safety. When you’re secure enough to lead people who earn more, you’re also building a culture of confidence.
Your team sees it. They respect it. They model it. That’s the kind of culture where people take ownership, support each other, and do their best work — not because of hierarchy, but because of mutual trust and purpose.

The Takeaway

If you’re a high-potential manager who finds yourself leading people who earn more than you, it is important that to remember that you weren’t promoted because you know everything. You were promoted because someone saw leadership in you — the ability to bring out greatness in others. You weren’t chosen to lead because you had all the answers. You were chosen because you have the capacity to bring out the best in others.

So if someone on your team makes more than you — good. It means you’re leading the kind of people who raise the bar.

That’s not a threat. That’s a compliment to your leadership.

Because deserving leaders don’t compete with their team — they build them.
And when your team thrives, your legacy speaks louder than any paycheck ever could.

A high-performing team is your legacy. Their success is your success. And when you lead with that mindset, your own rewards will always follow, and you will be on a fast track to become a deServing leader.