Don’t Give Them the Answer

A Series on Growing Leaders

For much of my career, I thought being a good leader meant having answers.

Someone brings you a problem. You listen, draw on your experience, make a decision, and tell them what to do.

Problem solved.

And sometimes that's exactly what leadership requires. There are moments when the situation is urgent, the risk is high, or the decision simply belongs to you.

But most of the time, I've come to believe there is a better way.

Don't give them the answer. Help them find it.

That's something I've been intentionally working on in my own leadership.

When someone comes into my office with a question, I try to resist the temptation to immediately tell them what I think. Instead, I ask:

“What do you think we should do?”

• Then I listen.

• Why do you think that's the right approach?

• What are the risks?

• Who will be affected?

• What haven't we considered?

• What does success look like?

  
  

Those conversations take longer than simply giving someone an answer. And sometimes the solution they reach isn't exactly the one I would have chosen.

That's okay.

Because the objective isn't just to solve the problem sitting in front of us.

The objective is to grow the person sitting in front of me.

I've been thinking about this a lot during my daily leadership reflections. Am I actually empowering the people around me? Am I giving them room to think, make decisions, occasionally make mistakes, and grow? Or am I unintentionally creating dependency because it's easier and faster for me to provide the answer?

Those aren't always comfortable questions.

Experience can become a leadership trap. The longer you've been doing something, the easier it becomes to say, “Here's what we need to do.”

That may solve today's problem.

But what happens tomorrow when you're not there?

The best leaders I've known didn't simply tell me what to do. They taught me how to think. They gave me responsibility. They allowed me to struggle. They expected me to figure things out. And when necessary, they were close enough to keep me from driving completely off the road.

My dad was one of those people. He taught through experience and action. Whether we were hunting, fishing, working or tackling something I'd never done before, there was usually a lesson somewhere in the experience. His example helped shape my belief in hard work, keeping your word and learning how to handle things yourself.

That's the kind of leadership development I want to explore in this series.

Not another list of leadership theories.

• Real situations.

• Real conversations.

• Real mistakes.

• And some lessons I'm still learning myself.

Because eventually, leadership shouldn't be measured by how many people need you.

It should be measured by how many people are better prepared because you were there.

Don't just solve the problem. Grow the person.

Go Be The Reason.