Your inbox is overflowing! Your calendar is a battlefield of back-to-back meetings! And every time a team member contacts you, they’re bringing you a problem that they should be solving themselves! This is sucking up a huge chunk of your time and energy, and your own productivity is being suffocated by being forced to be a micromanager. It’s time you realized you’ve become a One-Person Solution Factory!
But what if you could change that? What if you could empower your team to solve their own problems while still maintaining control over the big picture? The answer lies in the ability to define what are—and aren’t—your problems to solve. This is a core tenet of effective Leadership Development.
A Leader’s Problems vs. Everyone Else’s Problems
A team’s sustained success hinges on a leader who can effectively delegate and empower. So, how does a leader know when to step in and when to delegate? By understanding that these four strategic challenges are where your decision rights reside:
- Strategic Obstacles: A leader’s problem is rarely about the details, but always about issues that prevent the team from meeting its overall objectives. This is crucial for Executive Leadership.
- Resource Constraints: A lack of necessary funding, staff, or tools that the team can’t acquire without leadership intervention.
- Inter-team Conflicts: Disputes or dependencies between different departments that need you to mediate and align.
- High-Risk Decisions: Choices with major consequences for the organization, such as a large budget allocation or a significant product launch.
Anything else? It’s likely a problem your team is capable of solving. Mastering this distinction is key to the Future of Work.
Give Your Team Permission to Act
To cultivate a culture of ownership and autonomy, leaders need to be intentional and always resist the urge to be the hero. This is a topic I often speak about as a Leadership Speaker at a Business Conference or Corporate Events.
Instead of rushing to solve every problem brought to your attention, try these tactics:
- Don’t be Quick to Answer Every Question: Unless the problem is urgent, resist the knee-jerk reaction to immediately answer. Instead, text that you’re unavailable for the next few hours and, if necessary, suggest another source they can contact for assistance. This approach starts to reduce dependency on you.
- Ask, Don’t Tell: When a team member brings you a problem, don’t give a direct solution. Instead, ask guiding questions like, “What have you tried so far?” or “What do you think the next step should be?” This encourages critical thinking and builds your team’s muscle for finding their own answers.
- Define Clear Boundaries: Your team can’t take ownership if they don’t know what they’re allowed to own. This is where defining Decision Rights becomes crucial. Decision rights are the formal or informal permissions that clarify who is responsible for making specific choices. Explicitly communicate what types of problems should be brought to you versus those that your team should handle.
- Coach, Don’t Command: View your role as a coach. Offer support and guidance, but let the team take the lead in finding solutions. This approach builds Resilience and confidence in your team members.
- Encourage and Support: When a team member makes a decision—even if it’s not the one you would have made—support their choice. Offer constructive feedback, focusing on the outcome rather than second-guessing their process.
- Create a Safety Net: Let your team know it’s okay to make mistakes. A culture of psychological safety allows team members to take risks and exercise their decision rights without fear of retribution.
By following these principles, leaders can stop being a One-Person Solution Factory and start building a team of empowered, confident leaders. This isn’t just about making your life easier—it’s the core of effective Leadership Development and the key to unlocking a team’s true potential. To learn more about these strategies, connect with me, Paul Glover, a highly sought-after Keynote Speaker. You can also find more of my insights at paulgloverspeaks or through the TCAA Speaker Bureau.
I could be wrong…but I’m not.