As a leader, you’re likely peppered with questions and requests for approval all day long. People come to you to know what to do next or if they’re on the right path.
It can be tempting to just give your employees the answers, but that doesn’t make you a good leader.
If you keep finding the solutions for your team, you become the decision-making bottleneck for your organization or team. Your job as a leader isn’t to make every decision but to guide employees and encourage them to find the solution independently.
Instead of just giving them the answer, ask things like “What’s your idea?” or “What do you think we should do?”
Encouraging employees to find solutions gives them more accountability and autonomy, which increases engagement. It allows them to learn and come up with their own ideas.
But perhaps more importantly, it frees up your time as a leader. It diminishes your value and impact as a leader if everyone has to come to you for approval. You shouldn’t spend all of your time making decisions that others can make. You should focus on strategic vision, inspiring your team, and empowering them to find the answers.
Increase your value as a leader and build engagement by asking questions that help people find answers on their own. As tempting as it might be, don’t just give answers to every question that comes your way.
I put together a video which talks about this in more detail. Please check it out below.
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