Stop fixing things. Do this instead

Your team is doing great work. But one day someone drops a ball. It happens. How you deal with that will have a tremendous impact on all of the team members' creative thinking, sense of ownership, willingness to take risk, and feeling of belonging. Your team will be looking to see what will happen when they get something wrong. And don't forget your boss is watching, too. What kind of a leader do you want them to see?

The challenge often comes down to this: how do you execute your responsibility for resolving the miss, and be seen to be owning it, without taking over from the person whose job it actually is? You have to reconcile all three if you want to be credible as a leader who gets things done in a way that develops and empowers their team members.

You’ll find it easier when you don't have the expertise required to fix the problem. The temptation to jump in and fix the thing yourself will be much stronger when you do. Or when you think you do.

Don't take over

Don't do it. It might be quicker in the short term, but that little bit of time saved is rarely worth it. The cost is simply too high. If you take over, the person whose job it is and their colleagues will only learn that, if they make a mistake, their work is taken away and everyone will see that the boss has taken over. Very disempowering. Better to stay under the radar with any issues next time. Your boss will learn that your team isn’t as capable as they’d thought. That will need developing before they can involve you more in the bigger picture agenda.

Whereas if you support and guide the person who missed the ball in resolving it now, they and their colleagues learn how to do this in a way that gets them to a good outcome. They'll be able to apply that learning again, and adapt the solution to suit the specifics of any challenge with your guidance. They will ask for your guidance when they know they can get that, and not blame. 

Before it got these guardrails the Caminito del Rey was known as the most dangerous hike

Execute your responsibility

What is your responsibility here, exactly? To deliver the outcome with your team, ultimately. Let me clarify that: your role is to provide the conditions for your team members to deliver the outcome. How? By giving them appropriate guardrails so they can learn from experience. By helping them think through issues as they arise. Such a coaching approach will help them develop their own capacity to take on ever more complex challenges. Which helps you free yourself up to focus on the bigger picture more. Virtuous circle.

Call on your coaching skills here: calm your own mind so you can put aside any annoyance about the miss. Help the person identify the possible ways forward and who and what is needed to resolve things. Show an active interest in their progress, but leave them in charge. You'll have the chance to intervene and redirect if needed when you keep yourself involved. Judge whether root cause analysis has to be done now or whether it can wait till there is more calm.

Be seen to own it

Credibility has to be earned twice, it is said: first you have to do the work, and then it has to be noticed that you have. Remind yourself of the kind of leader you want to be, and be seen as. When you share the accomplishment, give credit where it is due. Highlight the wins in the face of challenge. Your team's accomplishments are your success.

Get in touch if you would like help honing your coaching skills.

If you're new here you can subscribe below to get more newsletters like this.