The ‘Shadow Scrum Master’ Trap: Why You Feel Like a High-Paid Admin instead of an Engineering Leader

If you look at your calendar right now, how much of it is “Engineering Management” (people strategy, career development, architecture alignment) versus “Delivery Mechanics” (chasing tickets, updating Jira, running standups)?

For many EMs I speak to, the ratio is dangerously skewed.

You stepped into this role to help people grow and build great tech. But somewhere along the line, you became the team’s API for chaos.

You aren’t just the Engineering Manager; you are the “Shadow Scrum Master.”

This isn’t a failure of your time management.

It is a systems failure that leads to a specific type of leadership burnout.

The Invisible Workload

In many organisations, the Scrum Master role has quietly evaporated or been “absorbed” by the EM. This creates a massive conflict in your Jobs-to-be-Done.

You are trying to navigate your first leadership role with confidence and reconnect with purpose, but you are constantly pulled into the weeds to resolve delivery bottlenecks.

When you absorb the Scrum Master duties without the formal acknowledgement or training, you are increasing your Work In Progress (WIP). This prevents you from doing the deep work required to solve the struggle with transition from peer to leader.

The Systems View: Little’s Law Applied to Leadership

We use Little’s Law to manage our teams’ flow, but we rarely apply it to our own brains.

WIP = Throughput * Lead Time

Throughput: The number of high-quality decisions or coaching conversations you can finish.
Lead Time: How long a decision or problem sits in your head before it’s resolved.
WIP: The number of open loops (hiring, conflicts, Jira updates, roadmap questions).

When you act as the Shadow Scrum Master, your WIP explodes. Because your brain’s capacity (Throughput) is finite, the Lead Time on everything increases.

The result?

Strategic decisions take weeks instead of days.
Career conversations get pushed.
You feel “unsupported by your boss” because you can’t demonstrate strategic impact .

You are technically “working,” but systemically, you are gridlocked. This is often why EMs feel caught in the weeds with reduced strategic impact.

Firefighting is a System Signal

If you are constantly fighting fires, chasing a blocked PR, clarifying a vague ticket, soothing a stakeholder - that is not “part of the job.” That is a signal that the system upstream is broken.

When a leader is constantly firefighting, the team loses psychological safety. They stop looking for the root cause because they know you will fix the symptom. You accidentally train them to be dependent on you, which directly conflicts with the goal of building a succession pipeline of self-sufficient leaders.

3 Steps to Escape the Trap

1. Visualize Your “Leadership WIP”

Just like you wouldn’t let a dev have 12 tickets in “In Progress,” don’t let yourself have 12 active roles. List out everything you did this week. Highlight the “Shadow Scrum Master” tasks. Seeing it on paper is the first step to overcoming the “overthinking and inner conflicts” that drain your confidence .

2. Shift from Hero to Router

When a delivery blocker hits you, stop fixing it. Instead, route it.

Don’t: Message the other team to unblock the API.
Do: Ask your Senior Engineer: “Who do we need to talk to to clear this constraint?”

This builds confidence in leadership identity by moving you from doing to enabling.

3. Protect the “Deep Work” Slots

You cannot coach a human being effectively if you are looking at Slack. You need tools for handling conflict and feedback, but those tools require presence. Block out “No-Delivery” time where you are purely focused on the People and the System, not the Ticket.

Summary

You were hired to lead people and systems, not to move cards across a board. If you feel like an imposter because you can’t keep up, remember: it’s not a capability gap. It’s a WIP problem.

Manage your flow, and the leadership will follow.

“You cannot lead effectively if you are drowning in the delivery details.”

Are you ready to hand back the “Shadow Scrum Master” role and step fully into the leadership identity you were hired for?

You don’t need a 6-month course. You need a tactical intervention.

I work with Engineering Managers and Leaders in a 3-Session Reset to untangle their calendars, quiet the inner critic, and build a sustainable system for high-performance.

If you are tired of ending the week feeling like you didn’t actually lead anything book a free 15 minute discovery call.