How I Accidentally Became My Department’s Junk Drawer

Posted 6/24/2026

Every organization has a junk drawer. Sometimes it's a person. Realizing that turned into one of our biggest leadership lessons.

Categories: Corporate Training and Executive Education

Tags: Leadership and Management

Every organization has a junk drawer. Yea, you know the one.

It’s where old processes, outdated templates, random documents, and “we might need this someday” files go to live out their retirement years.

What I’ve recently discovered is that sometimes the junk drawer isn’t a drawer at all. Sometimes it’s a person.

For years, I didn’t realize that I had become our department’s junk drawer.

Need the latest version of a participant guide? Ask Amy.

Looking for a proposal from three years ago? Ask Amy.

Trying to find the slide deck that was updated, but not 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 updated version? Ask Amy.

On April 1, I added three new team members. As they began learning our programs, a pattern emerged. Every time someone needed content, materials, or historical knowledge, they came to me.

At first, I felt pretty good about that. 𝘓𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘢𝘵 𝘮𝘦! I’m helpful! I’m knowledgeable! I’m basically Google with a UNC Charlotte email address.

Then reality hit.

If everyone has to come to me to find something, that’s not a sign of organizational strength. It’s a sign that critical knowledge is living inside one person’s brain.

And that’s a problem.

One of the biggest leadership lessons I’ve learned this year is that being indispensable isn’t the goal. Building systems that make everyone successful is.

So I’ve been working on what I now call my “junk drawer cleanup project.” We’re organizing content, updating materials, creating consistency, and making it easier for team members to find what they need without having to schedule a scavenger hunt through my memory.

The funny thing is that most leaders don’t realize they’re carrying around their own version of a junk drawer. It might be information, processes, relationships, or historical knowledge that only they possess.

The challenge isn’t collecting knowledge. The challenge is sharing it.

Because leadership isn’t about being the person with all the answers.

It’s about creating an environment where people can find the answers without needing you every five minutes.

Although, if anyone needs to know where that proposal from 2021 is located, I can definitely pull it for you.

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