Velasqusz and Gleitsman (2023) discussed empowering teams to solve problems without you - the leaders.
It is a common struggle for managers, especially new managers, to feel responsible for ensuring everything their teams deliver is perfect. Some are afraid it reflects their ability to manage well; some want to protect their teams from setbacks, and some are trying to maintain good relationships with stakeholders and collaborators. Velasqusz and Gleitsman call them the ‘umbrella managers’. These leaders often find it difficult to be across everything and be everywhere at all times as their teams grow, and the scope of their responsibilities increases.
To break the curse and feel yourself for more strategic and impactful decisions instead of being in every meeting, to enable your teams to grow, and, most importantly, to improve the productivity and innovation of the organisation, leaders must learn how to shift their mindsets and empower their teams.
Shift your thinking
The first step is understanding what stops you from letting it go. For example, are you afraid that mistakes will make you look bad? Are you worried you’ll lose your authority and influence if you are not there for everything and involved in all the decisions? Another source of resistance could be the identity shift many managers face when they step into senior leadership roles. The higher the corporate ladder, the less critical your domain knowledge becomes as leadership skills take priority. Next, demonstrate your confidence in your team by raising challenges and entrusting them to solve the issues themselves. You should expect short-term stumbles at the beginning when you start to delegate more. It’s okay for your team to fail and learn from their mistakes. These failures can uncover areas that need improving. The identified weaknesses allow you to provide the necessary tools and training to upskill your team members.
Empower your team
Encourage your team to take ownership, provide the right tools to help them, and create a safe environment for them to fail, learn and grow.
References
- Velasquez, L. and Gleitsman, K. (2023). How to Equip Your Team to Problem Solve Without You. [online] Harvard Business Review. Available at: https://hbr.org/2023/03/how-to-equip-your-team-to-problem-solve-without-you