Your team has great ideas- you don’t have to have all the answers

If you have a team of bright people, statistically the likelihood that your idea is always the best idea is nonexistent. It can be hard for some leaders to transition from being the one with all the answers to becoming a coach who finds the best solutions through a team. 

I recommend that my clients ask their teams "What is working?" and "What is not working?". If you ask your team what is not working and everyone is silent, it’s not because they don’t have something to say. Research done by Harvard Business Review showed that “employees are less likely to speak up with concerns when they thought it was discouraged or punished.”

Some people hold back due to fear. They may have seen people punished for bringing up issues, asking questions, and/or pushing back. To them, it has become safer to stay under the radar and not speak up. Others don’t speak up due to apathy. They may have brought issues up many times in the past without resolve. With your high performers, and eventually your entire team, you have the opportunity to bring them all together to find the root causes and solve the problems.

Notice that the question is “What’s not working?” and not “Who is to blame?”. This changes the conversation from blaming and complaining to acceptance and curiosity. There are problems - that’s a fact. When the problems can be discussed from a place of curiosity, you can find recommendations for solutions. This is what you want - to fix the root cause of problems for good so you can go on to solve more.

Everyone can improve in this area. Transitioning from being the one with all the answers to the leader who coaches their team to find the best solution is a skill that is learned.