Don't Steal Your People's Opportunity to Shine!

Hey everyone,

Jon Macaskill here, back with your weekly dose of wellness and leadership tips. Today, I want to share an important lesson about not "stealing your team’s opportunity to shine."

I recently had the privilege of speaking with a former fire chief who taught me something simple but incredibly profound. Whenever someone asked him a question, he’d respond with: “Is this a question that only the fire chief can answer?”

If it was, he’d answer it. If it wasn’t, he’d send the person to the lowest-ranking team member who had the right answer.

Why? Because great leaders don’t hoard the spotlight. They empower their people to step up, take ownership, and demonstrate their expertise. This approach isn’t just about trust; it’s about building an efficient, resilient organization that thrives at every level.

Why Leaders Shouldn’t Answer Every Question

1. It Frees Up Your Time for What Really Matters (at your level) When you answer every question, you’re tying yourself to every decision, big or small. That’s a surefire way to burn out and bottleneck your organization. Instead, focus on the tasks that only you can do and trust your team to handle the rest.
2. It Shows Trust and Builds Confidence Sending questions to the right person—no matter their rank—shows your team you trust them. It builds their confidence and helps them grow into leaders themselves. Plus, trust is contagious. When you show confidence in your team, they’ll start trusting one another more, too.
3. It Creates a More Efficient Organization Empowering your team to answer

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