Your team brings problems. You hand back answers.

Hi Nik,

Someone brings you a problem, you know the fix, and you give it to them in thirty seconds. It feels like helping, and it is how most of us were managed. This week's move takes about two minutes and uses one question.

This week in the field

Nobody tells you how to lead. They just expect you to get on with it. So most of us copy the managers we had, and in a busy commercial team that usually means handing over the answer, because it's quicker.

What it means in practice

The decision quietly stays with you, and your team's own judgement never gets the practice. Development was the lowest or joint-lowest pillar in 8 of the 21 comparable diagnostics I've run.

One thing to try

I created the CODE Performance System™ to give you clarity, and the tools to make it happen. Here's one from the Manager as Development Coach playbook: in your next one to one, when someone brings you a problem, hold your answer and ask, "What would you do if I wasn't in the room?" Then stay quiet, longer than feels comfortable, and let them finish.

Takes about two minutes inside a conversation you're already having. You'll notice how well they think when you give them the space.

The question to sit with

Which decisions are still coming to you only because you've always been the one to answer them?

Curious where you'd score on this? Take the free CODE Leadership Scorecard, five minutes, free.