This month I want to share something uncomfortable — something I’ve seen in almost every leadership team I’ve worked with, and something I’ve had to confront in myself.
Recently I was working with a brilliant COO. She was decisive, fast-thinking, and technically sharp. Her team described her as “the best problem-solver in the building.” And therein lay the problem.
Every time a challenge surfaced, her team brought it to her. She solved it — quickly, elegantly, correctly. They thanked her and left. The next day, they brought her another one.
She hadn’t built a team of problem-solvers. She had built a team of problem-deliverers. And she couldn’t figure out why.
Theory
Here’s the leadership dilemma in plain terms: the behaviors that got you promoted are often the exact behaviors that will limit your team.
Leaders rise because they solve problems fast, make good decisions under pressure, and take charge when things go wrong. These are genuinely valuable skills. But at the leadership level, those same behaviors — applied to your team’s problems — communicate something powerful and unintended: I don’t trust you to handle this.
Jumping in with the answer signals: your thinking isn’t good enough yet.
Taking over in a crisis signals: you can’t be trusted when it matters.
Solving problems brought to you signals: escalating to me is the right move.
None of this is intentional. But intention doesn’t change impact.
My thoughts
What I’ve observed over nearly 30 years is that the leaders who create the strongest problem-solving organizations are rarely the best individual problem-solvers on their teams. They’re the best at creating the conditions for others to solve problems.
That’s a fundamentally different skill — and it requires unlearning some of the habits that made you successful.
The COO I mentioned did something brave. She started keeping a log of every problem her team brought to her and asking herself honestly: “Did they actually need me for this?” After two weeks, 80% of her answers were “no.” That was her turning point.
How to
- Keep a “could they have solved it?” log — for two weeks, note every problem brought to you and honestly assess if your team could have handled it without you.
- Replace answers with questions — when someone brings you a problem, try: “What do you think?” before offering your view. Their answer will often surprise you.
- Let them fail safely — identify one low-risk area where you will deliberately not step in. Observe what happens. Resist the urge to rescue.
- Name your blocker behavior — each of us has one habitual response that blocks our team. Identify yours. Share it with someone who will tell you when they see it.
Call to action!
Identify your own blocker behavior this month — the one habit that’s limiting your team’s problem-solving more than any process or structure. Pick one meeting this week where you will ask instead of tell.
The best thing a great problem-solver can do is become a great problem-solving enabler.
Let’s lead by stepping back!
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Eli Sharp.
