Lead! They lead, but not only do they lead they DO! When you think about some of the best leaders you have seen in your life and in history they all have 1 thing in common, they DO! They don’t just talk, they DO! They lead by example!
This doesn’t mean they solve your problems, it doesn’t mean they jump in and make the issue go away it means they HELP!
When I started in my current industry my boss was notorious for asking did you look it up? Did you try to recreate it? It furstrated me to no end because more often than not I had NOT done those things! I wanted him to solve the problem for me, because I knew he had the answer! The problem was he wanted ME to find the answer not just have it handed to me!!
As a leader I have learned that this frustrates most of us, we want to have our problems solved quickly and easily and often without work on our part, however this isn’t always the best for our team! Yes as the leader you have the answer, no that doesn’t mean you should solve all the problems!!
Ask questions, ask what problem solving techniques your team has used and acknowledge that you sense their frustration and that you will help them get to the right answer! Now if you have a screaming mad client you may have to jump in and solve the problem, because that could get ugly quickly! Most of the time though we don’t have a screaming client, we have a frustrated team member.
Today instead of simply solving the problem, ask questions see if your team has tried to solve the problem and offer ideas on where they might find the answers!
Then take your team out for drinks because you are ALL going to need it after!!
Leadership Simplified 