My Coach once told me, “ Never do for others what they can do for themselves” referring to coaching people to become problem solvers.

Fazi has been promoted to Managerial level because of her problem solving skills. Her people know she posses this skill so they keep coming to her and she solves their problems. Like virtually every manager on the planet, she wishes her people would solve their own problems more often, or at the very least offer some possible solutions to the problems they bring to her.

On some days Fazi things about not solving problems but can’t help herself from blurting out a solution. It’s as though she thinks as a manager her l job is to play whack-a-mole all day. See a problem over here? Whack it with a solution. See a problem over there? Whack it with a solution.

Since Fazi keep solving employees’ problems for them, employees don’t learn how to solve their own problems.

Her team has become like people standing in a forest who can see the trees that surround them, but don’t notice the decayed trees they are standing on that constitute the forest floor. Nor do they think much about the streams that created the river and the aquifer that provide life to the forest.

Fact: Fazi is exhibiting soft leadership. Here is something I would want every leader to remember: Before you can solve your problems and get the right results, you must first clearly see what’s causing your problems.

As a Manager you are responsible to build the capacity of those you lead. Rather than providing solutions when they bring you problems, understand and accept this responsibility ask questions of your staff that empower them to think and solve problems for themselves.

Here are some questions that good leaders ask people who come to them to solve their problems:

1. How do you think we should fix this? What are some possible options?
2. What similar challenges have you faced in the past?
3. How did you solve that problem?
4. Where can you get the information you need to solve this problem?
5. Who or what will your solution affect?
6. Who should you talk to before you implement your solution?
7. What is your plan B if the solution you implement doesn’t work? Managers who become frustrated that their employees only come to them with problems should take a close look at the system they have created that may be reinforcing this undesirable behavior. On the other hand, managers who embrace their role as teachers of problem-solving skills create a virtuous cycle of learning and capacity building within those they lead.

“Every system is perfectly designed to get the results it gets.”In other words, if you are getting undesirable results, there is likely a system at work producing those results, and quite often, managers unwittingly created that system!