"I have so many meetings" ??

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Meet Norm.?

Norm is, well, normal. Except they’re a leader at their business.

What does that mean?

It means they get paid well and have a lot of responsibility.

What they love most is getting to work with all of the people on their team.

Being a leader, though, also means that **Norm has a lot of meetings.**

Back to back to back meetings. I mean, just look at that calendar.

Familiar at all?

Honestly? Norm finds all these meetings a bit tiring.

You see, they’re an introvert—or at least they have introverted tendencies.

And they likes to think. It’s easy for Norm to forget the fact that the reason they got a leadership job in the first place was because of all the excellent thinking they did.

Where’d all the thinking time go?

Nowadays, they barely have time to get through their own to-do list and projects, let alone do any real *thinking.*

It feels like they’re spinning their wheels but not really making any real progress.

The problem with Norm's "leadership" style

Norm has fallen into the trap of *management*.

Norm spends all his time here:

Their schedule is so full because they’re constantly directing people.

- Repeatedly defining what needs to be done

- Showing people how to do things (or doing them!)

- Checking in on their progress

It’s not just Norm’s problem, either.

Norm feels pressure to keep their boss (the CEO of the company) up-to-date on the company’s progress towards their OKRs so they feel like they need to know every speed bump and set back that comes up for the team.

All of this means that Norm’s direct reports are stuck in “do what I’m told” mode. They don’t have the confidence to take initiative and they don’t understand (nor really take ownership over) the things they’re responsible for.

It’s been like this for the 8-months since Norm joined the team, and they’re starting to notice the tell-tale symptoms of burn out.

Empower your team to solve their own problems so you can do you best work

“Leadership” isn’t a monolithic thing. There are many ways to lead and countless frameworks and toolkits.

One way to think about it is as a spectrum from always telling and doing to having people who are competent and confident to solve their own problems.

In the right context, giving a direct report a strong amount of direction makes sense. But it’s very resource intensive for the leader and, when overdone, will make people feel micro-managed.?

The power of asking the right questions

• What if instead of?telling?your direct reports how to do things you knew exactly which questions to ask to?guide your people towards discovering their own solutions?

What if Norm could unlock their team’s sense of responsibility?

Problems solve themselves

People ask for support **designing solutions**, and stop asking you to solve problems on their behalf

One of the skills we teach in The Leading People Program is Solution Discovery Coaching.

I’ve been using this tool with my clients for decades and this is the first time I’m showing it to the whole world.

Next week I’m inviting a friend to join me for a?live showcase?of Developmental Coaching in action.

You’ll walk away...

• having witnessed world-class coaching in-action
• learned a reliable process for implementing coaching in your own
• with an actionable toolkit for Asking The Right Questions

REGISTER FOR THE LIVE EVENT HERE

P.S.?I am still looking for a few volunteers interested in getting some immediate help solving a problem they face. It can be anything—from handling the pace of change to whether to buy those new shoes.?Apply here ?to see if you are a good fit. Chosen candidates will get a special gift from me (in addition to actually helping with the problem they face!)