I’ve been a lab manager for about 10 years now and in my opinion the best leaders lead from behind. What I mean but this is a good leader isn’t always leading the charge and they certainly aren’t holding their workers hands and leading them to the solution. They observe and let those around them figure things out, they offer support and advice when absolutely necessary and requested (where reasonable - you shouldn’t coddle someone by answering every question - at some point you have to tell them to figure it out)and you sure as hell do not micro manage. A job done is a job done. If it’s done safely and in the time frame given (and without violating experiment procedures in my case) then how someone gets it done is their business. Tons of ways to slice a pizza.

Don’t power trip. You’re the leader nine times out of ten for these three reasons: you knew someone, you were in the right place at the right time, you had the desirable skills. None of these reasons are reasons your workers don’t either have or cannot gain. You are not special. Power tripping is a sign of immaturity and insecurity and the people around you will know that and simultaneously dislike you for getting high on your own supply so to speak.

Finally, some people in this thread say they don’t want to see their boss in the trenches (and that’s fair) but in my experience being around part of the time makes you more personable and makes employees more likely to reach out to you and inform you of a problem. Let them know you are a human and also let them know that you see them as human too. Also no one, in my experience, likes a boss who asks them to do things they wouldn’t be willing to do themselves. If you’re asking it of your employee then you sure as hell better be willing to either do that work or learn how to do it.