Stop Making Employees Rediscover What You Already Know
Stop Making Employees Rediscover What You Already Know
Many managers waste employees’ time by pretending every answer has to be discovered rather than taught.
There’s a version of leadership that sounds thoughtful, empowering, and sophisticated on the surface, but in practice, it often amounts to a slower way of withholding useful judgment.
The employee brings a problem, the manager clearly sees the answer, and instead of offering direct guidance, they start a long sequence of reflective questions designed to help the employee “arrive there themselves.”
Sometimes that’s wise, and sometimes it’s a very polished way of being unhelpful.
If someone pushes a stalled car to a gas station, they don’t need a mechanic who insists on gently guiding the person to identify and resolve the issue on their own.
They need a mechanic competent enough to say what they see and useful enough to solve the problem. The same is true at work.
Employees don’t always need another beautifully facilitated process. Sometimes they just need the manager to provide information and actively help them fulfill the goal.
That’s the mistake some leaders make. They think being non-directive is inherently more enlightened, but often it’s just slower and frustrating.
A manager who already sees the answer shouldn’t force the employee to pay in time, confusion, and drift for the privilege of rediscovering what leadership already knows.