The "Easier to Do It Myself" Trap: How Leaders Create Dependent Teams
Many managers fall into the pattern of consistently providing answers and solutions for their team members. They often rationalize this behavior by thinking it ensures accuracy, speeds up processes, or simply feels like the easiest path. However, this seemingly beneficial approach can actually impede team members' development, stifle their initiative, and ultimately overburden the leader. This discussion delves into how this dynamic often forms unconsciously, highlighting the adverse consequences it has on both the manager's responsibilities and the team's capacity for growth, fresh perspectives, and feeling valued.
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Leadership Development: Ditching the "Do It Myself" Mindset
The phrase "I'll just do it myself" echoes through countless workplaces, a seemingly innocent phrase often voiced by well-meaning managers at every level. It comes from a desire to be helpful, efficient, or to ensure tasks are completed precisely. However, this ingrained habit, while seemingly harmless, quietly undermines employee engagement, stifles crucial growth, and ultimately hinders the implementation of effective management strategies.
At Revela, we firmly believe that true leadership development hinges on dismantling this "do it myself" mentality. That's why we dove into this exact challenge on a recent episode of our Leadership Hustle podcast. Our conversation unpacked why leaders fall into this trap and, more importantly, how to cultivate the essential delegation skills needed to empower your team and reclaim your valuable time.
Halting Leadership Development with “Do It Myself” Syndrome
When we observe managers who consistently default to "I'll just do it," we often hear a common set of justifications. Michelle Hill outlined these stating, "It's faster. It's quicker. I know it's going to be right. Um…there won't be mistakes, which obviously aligns with…it's going to be right."
While it might seem faster in the moment for the manager to handle a task or provide an answer, this is often an illusion of efficiency. The manager ensures accuracy (in their eyes), but this short-term gain comes at a long-term cost to the team and the leader.
The Unintended Consequences
The "I'll just do it myself" approach comes with a host of consequences that can significantly impact both the team's growth and the leader's effectiveness. These hidden drawbacks often undermine the very goals leaders hope to achieve.
Employee Conditioning: By constantly providing immediate answers, leaders inadvertently train their employees to depend on them.
Stifled Problem-Solving: When leaders consistently intervene, they prevent their team members from developing critical thinking and problem-solving skills. Employees don't get the opportunity to wrestle with challenges and discover solutions on their own.
Time Drain for Leaders: The constant flow of questions, emails, chats, and "drive-by" interruptions becomes a significant time drain for leaders.
Rewarding Undesirable Behavior: Perhaps most surprisingly, providing immediate answers unconsciously rewards dependence. By answering all the questions and solving all the problems, leaders are effectively signaling that this is the desired behavior from their team.
Shifting the Leadership Paradigm
At Revela, we emphasize a fundamental shift in the leader's role. Andrea Fredrickson encapsulated this perfectly stating, "Your job is not to solve problems. Your job is to make sure the problem gets solved." This means moving from being the individual problem-solver to becoming an enabler of solutions, empowering your team to take ownership and find their own answers.
Negative Impacts on Workplace Culture and Employee Engagement
The consequences of the "do it myself" syndrome extend far beyond the leader's workload. They profoundly impact employee engagement, growth opportunities, and the overall workplace culture.
Decreased Employee Value & Confidence: When leaders always intervene, employees often feel less valuable and capable. Constantly stepping in hinders confidence and diminishes an employee's sense of importance within the team.
Lack of Growth and Development: People thrive on challenges and opportunities for growth. If team members are consistently denied the chance to tackle problems and learn new things, they will become bored and stagnant.
Creation of a Culture of Mediocrity: When leaders consistently lower standards by taking on tasks their team should perform, they inadvertently foster a workplace culture of mediocrity. This can lead to employees doing the bare minimum because the leader frequently assumes the role of the "savior" or "hero," often unconsciously.
Erosion of Trust: When leaders consistently prevent employees from figuring things out on their own, it implies a lack of trust in their abilities.
Practical Management Strategies for Effective Delegation Skills
At Revela, we guide leaders through concrete steps to shift from "do it myself" to true empowerment and develop strong delegation skills. These practical management strategies are designed to foster an environment of growth and autonomy within your team.
Self-Assessment and Reality Check
The first step is to gain clarity on your current behaviors. Leaders need to quantify the time they spend on tasks that could and should be delegated through a time analysis study. This involves breaking down activities like responding to emails and coaching to differentiate between genuinely guiding someone and simply providing an answer.
Shifting from Training to Coaching
Once the initial training phase is complete, your role as a leader should transition from providing information to facilitating understanding. Hill stated, "Training is when you're training them on how to do something right. Giving them that knowledge. The coaching is helping create the understanding."
This transition hinges on the power of asking questions, which is key to building decision-making authority within your team. Instead of giving answers, ask questions like:
"How would you like to solve this?"
"What have you done already?"
"What do you suggest?"
Fredrickson explained that "...by asking them questions they will have the idea in their head. They're going to have to think, they're going to own it." Often, employees already have the right answer but need validation, so building employee confidence by letting them articulate their solutions is crucial.
Using Transparent and Effective Communication in Leadership
When you decide to change your approach, using transparent and effective communication in leadership is vital to prevent confusion or fear among your team. Leaders should openly acknowledge their past tendencies, taking responsibility for how they've operated.
Explain the reasoning behind this shift to your team, emphasizing that it's a positive step for their development and growth. By preparing them for changes in your approach, you can manage expectations and reduce any potential anxiety, ensuring they understand your belief in their ability to grow and contribute.
Clarifying Decision-Making Authority
To empower your team, you must clearly define their decision-making authority. This means defining boundaries by clearly communicating when employees must bring an issue to you versus when they have full autonomy to make decisions.
Encourage solutions by asking employees to come to you with proposed solutions, not just problems. If they present an issue, always ask, "What have you done already and what worked?"
Reinforcing trust is also vital. Fredrickson explained that you should tell your team, "You don't need me. You've made the last few decisions by yourself like you knew it. It was perfect. I trust that you can make this decision."
Fostering a Workplace Culture of Empowerment
True leadership development creates a workplace culture where empowerment is the norm. This environment encourages every team member to take initiative, contribute meaningfully, and feel a sense of ownership over their work.
Celebrating Progress, Not Just Big Wins
Acknowledge and celebrate small improvements in employee initiative and problem-solving. Hill advised, "Look for progress. Not the big wins. Right? It's like the little improvements when they come to you with ideas. Great. That's a win." These small acknowledgments reinforce independent thinking and action.
Promoting Innovation Through Broader Perspectives
When leaders always provide the answers, innovation is stifled because ideas come from a "narrow lens." By empowering your team to contribute their ideas, you tap into a broader range of perspectives, leading to more innovative solutions. Hill emphasized this by saying, "We need everyone's lenses and ideas to really be more innovative, but we prevent that from happening when we always give the answer and don't ask and include them."
Facilitating Group Decision-Making
In meetings, if everyone looks to you for the answer, it's important to redirect questions back to the group. Fredrickson suggested asking things like, "What do you all think? What suggestions? What do you recommend? What ideas do you have?" It's crucial to avoid leading questions by sharing your personal solutions first. The ultimate goal is for the group to collaborate and make decisions independently, sometimes even without your direct input.
Overcoming the Fear of Letting Go
The final step in this leadership development journey is trusting your team and letting go of the need for absolute control. Avoid second-guessing their decisions. The goal is a self-sufficient team where your presence might not even be necessary in every meeting.
The Transformative Impact of Leadership Development
The "do it myself" mentality is a common trap that, while often well-intentioned, leads to overwhelmed leaders and disengaged employees. This habit halts problem-solving, drains leaders' time, and erodes trust, ultimately creating a culture of mediocrity within the workplace. By shifting from a problem-solver to an enabler and using effective management strategies, leaders can foster an environment where employee engagement thrives and teams achieve their full potential.
At Revela, we believe that empowering others is the true mark of effective leadership development. To dive deeper into these practical techniques and learn how to make a flourishing work environment, be sure to listen to the rest of our Leadership Hustle podcast!
About the Hosts
Andrea Fredrickson
Andrea Fredrickson is a thought leader and consultant at Revela, an organization based in Omaha, Nebraska specializing in the development of leaders, culture alignment, and business strategy for private and family businesses of all sizes. Revela is one of the region's most experienced thought challengers, helping individuals and companies find their greatness. Andrea has built an amazing team by believing that fundamentally people want to be successful and become better versions of themselves.
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Andrea has degrees in education, management, and business. She is the author of Insight Unseen; How to lead with 20/20 business vision. She helps people see things differently, self-reflect, and never stop looking for ways to improve themselves on a personal and professional level. Andrea has spent more than 30 years researching and developing methods to help people communicate and lead more effectively.
When Andrea isn’t working with clients, you’ll find her spending time with her family & friends and making memories by exploring new cities.
Michelle Hill
Michelle Hill is a master facilitator and coach at Revela, an organization specializing in the development of leaders and aligning the culture of privately held and family businesses of all sizes. Revela is one of the region's most experienced thought challengers, helping individuals and companies find their greatness.
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An ambitious leader, Michelle has the natural ability to create forward momentum to build teams and get results. She inspires others to look within themselves and to challenge the status quo. She helps create high-performing environments. Michelle brings a diverse background: operations, employee development, and sales in the steel, hospitality, and consulting industries.
Outside of work, you will see her competitive side engaged in her daughter’s sports and ISU athletics. She loves life, her four-legged companions, and captures all the moments through her camera’s lens.
TRANSCRIPT
Andrea: Hey, guys. And we're back again. And we're here discussing this concept that every almost every manager for sure, we've run into.
Michelle: At all levels.
Andrea: Has brought up because we have such nice people. Now, if you're not one of these nice people, then scroll past us. Move past us. But all you nice people out there are probably saying this phrase or something like it, and that is, oh, I'll just do it. I'll just take care of it. I'll just answer that question. It's just easier. I'll just tell them. It's just easier for me.
Michelle: Yeah. Oh, and it's better for them.
Andrea: It's better for me because I can control it and things like that. Exactly. Before I get we get too deep into into this, I can start just spewing information. Let's. Let's go with this. You've got a room full of managers and leaders, and you hear that statement. Oh, I just do it. Oh, or you see in a meeting that they're answering every single question. What are some of the things that you hear people say as to why they do that.