Stop solving every problem for your team

The deadline for a deliverable is near. Your team is facing a technical challenge. While you are the Senior Delivery Manager, you have been solving technical issues for a large part of your career. What would you do now?

- Schedule a team meeting and TELL them what to do
- Schedule a team meeting and ASK them what can be done

If you would choose option 1 and are always solving your team's problems, you're not helping, you’re holding them back.

It’s tempting as a leader to swoop in and save the day. But real leadership isn’t about doing. It’s about developing. The best leaders don’t create dependency. They build capability.

As a Leader, here are three principles to remember:

1. Don’t outsource all of the critical thinking and problem

 solving to yourself.

It’s easy to fall into the trap of being the one with all the answers. Well, you were providing the answers not so long ago as an individual performer. However, you have a different responsibility now. You need to create more problem solvers in your team. If not, you are failed as a leader.

When you make every decision and solve every problem, you unintentionally send the message that others can’t or shouldn’t think for themselves. You become the default brain for the team instead of a leader who builds other brains. You condition your team to always come to you for solutions.

Great leaders resist this urge. As Adam Weber said, “Great leadership is asking your team to come up with the ideas. They are the ones closest to the problem.”

Recommendation

  • Resist the urge to provide solutions
  • Learn the art of asking questions, probing, listening
  • Be the last person to speak in the meeting that you have called to discuss a problem
  • Encourage team members to provide their suggestions
  • Appreciate team members for providing a suggestion and not just for the right one
  • Provide a safe space within your team for ideas and suggestions

 

2. Don’t respond negatively when the team brings

 problems to you.

Problems are inevitable. But if your first reaction is frustration, blame, or negativity, your team will stop bringing problems to you altogether. Instead of surfacing issues early, they’ll delay or hide them, which leads to bigger problems later.

You must see problems as opportunities for progress. Respond with curiosity and calm, not criticism. This creates a culture where people feel safe raising issues and more importantly, working together to solve them

Recommendation

  • Provide a safe space within your team where people can share their problems without the fear of any criticism
  • Listen, when the team comes to you with a problem
  • Appreciate them for highlighting the problem
  • Resist the urge to provide solutions
  • Encourage team members to provide their suggestions
  • Appreciate all contributions

 

3. Don’t make your team dependent on you.

As an individual performer, there was the constant need to build credibility. And the best way to build credibility is to be seen as a problem-solver.

Remember, you have already built that credibility. You have nothing to prove as far as problem-solving is concerned. Infact, you have to now build credibility around more strategic thinking.

Your job as a leader is to make your team better, not busier. When you constantly step in to fix things, your team doesn't grow. They become dependent on you. Their confidence drops and your capacity shrinks.

The best leaders understand that growth happens when people wrestle with challenges and learn to overcome them. They coach, ask questions, and stay close, but they don’t take over. Their presence brings strength, not solutions.

Recommendation

  • Reflect on your own behaviours
  • Take regular feedback from your team and peers on your behaviours
  • Work towards bridging the gaps.
  • Take the help of a professional, if required. It’s okay.

 

Best Wishes

Coach Ram

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