Transitioning from Sergeant to Staff Sergeant is no joke.

That is a hard transition. Your Soldiers know what a Staff Sergeant is supposed to do. As you continue to do "grunt" work you will slowly lose the respect of those Soldiers and transition to being a MM (micromanager). It's not a huge deal to do the "grunt" work as long as you show you are doing the work you have been tasked to do at the E6 level. Your Soldiers will be more confident in your leadership ability knowing you are doing your work at the level you need to be at. Allowing Soldiers to accomplish thier tasks in the way they see best as long as they are meeting intent and staying within AR, FM ect is both rewarding for you and the Soldier.

Good luck Staff Sergeant

That happened when I got promoted to E5/E6/E7. Had to do more planning and management instead of being one of the troops. I did work alongside of them when I could.

Depends on what your role as a SSG is. You could be a squad leader, section NCO, NCOIC or a platoon sergeant.

SSG Russell, I am in the same boat as you. I had been a Team Leader for so long as an E-5, all I knew was to get in the dirt with my Soldiers and get the job done. Then, I get moved into the Detachment Sergeant job, still as an E-5, and I had to learn from the hip doing that job. Unfortunately, I was still trying to jump in the dirt with the troops. Then I made SSG this past February. Slowly over time I have been able to stop myself from getting dirty with them because I have learned the hard way that I now have higher level duties that I have to get done. It is a very hard habit to break, but it can be done. The best advice I can give, is put trust in your team leaders to ensure the mission you dictate gets done. You have to trust them.

at some variety of working, tell one of your subordinates that he is in charge of the detail, and that you're part of the team, and that you're there to help him run the show - you are getting your hands dirty with the guys and training them for leadership -
and to make a big deal of what you are doing with it - start with the lowest man in the team

I have seen people climb the ladder and make comments like. "Now I don't have to do the dumb shit". That puts a wall between them and the people they want to lead. These kind of people tend to lead from behind, (push), bosses, not leaders. The mafia has bosses, the Military has leaders, their in the front, leading the team. Sometimes you have to get your hands dirty to remind yourself where you came from. When the team sees you take the time to come out of the office and DO some of the work they are doing they know you have an interest in them and what they are doing. And its not all bad.

I found it difficult to transition into a more indirect role as well. It took me requesting a censing session for my section to get the feedback I needed from a mentor to truly know what my Soldiers were thinking. It boils down to trusting and supporting your subordinate leaders. Give them the opportunity to grow and develop. As a SSG, you are now a direct leader of the SGT. Provide purpose motivation and direction. Advise your SGTs and hold them accountable for their Soldiers. Set/ articulate the standard early and do so in writing so there is little to no confusion later.

It seems to me that you are wanting to do someone else's job. Who is doing yours?
I find myself doing exactly what you are doing. Old habits are hard to break

Moving from SGT to SSG is a biggie...U r definitely not one of the troops anymore. Even if you should get busted back down to E-4...ur knowledge base and experience will be carried over for both promotion and demotion...I know this because I made E5 twice.

Mission first...people always...

When you are tasked to perform and you feel that standing back makes you feel bad or negative...You need to let it go and develop trust in ur people. Think of yourself as a coach in a football game or other sport...call the shots on the sideline and look at the bigger picture. If you r in the game, u will have blind spots...When this happens, you need to let ur NCO support chain know so that they can help or assist in providing u resources.

Your job has changed, you it is now harder than you may realize, you have to prioritize which way you lead at critical moments and find the balance there are many tasks the you will be required to do that are behind the scenes that your soldiers will not always see or understand, find a mentor, use your tater to help you focus apropriatly