“Have you asked your team what they think?”

This was a question I recently asked someone on my team. And it opened the doors for an even better solution to the problem she was looking to solve.

Let’s take a moment and provide some thoughts about problems on a team.

Leadership is all about solving problems. Actually, it was John Maxwell who once said that people are put in leadership to solve problems. You have problems in your business? You put someone in place to solve that problem. And if they solve that problem well, then they might get promoted, or get to grow their team. They get to grow a team to solve more problems. Teams remain successful because they continue to solve the right problem with the right people and achieve the desired results.

Sometimes the problems we’re solving are long term and won’t happen in a day, and others can be solved in a moment. The higher you increase in your responsibilities in your organization, the more the types of problems are bigger picture problems. If you’re just starting out in your career, then your problems tend to be short term and can be solved in a rather shorter period of time. 

I once had someone tell me that they were looking for smoke… I couldn’t help but wonder, “What about the problems right in front of us?”

Note, it’s good to remember, that though we solve problems, it’s not advised to go looking at everything as a problem to solve, or to look for problems to solve outside of your responsibility. When we’re running in our lane, giving ourselves fully to the work in front of us, the problems for us to solve naturally show up. If you’re having to go and look for problems elsewhere, it could mean that you’re overlooking the problems in your own department or your own business. Solve your problems first, then as someone from another area in your business reaches out for assistance, assist them as needed. I once had someone tell me that they were looking for smoke, because where there’s smoke, there’s fire. They looked for problems in the company to go and solve it. I couldn’t help but wonder, “What about the problems right in front of us?”

Now, don’t get me wrong, we are a team, so that means we assist others with their problems. Paul even mentioned to the Galatians we bear other’s burdens and carry our own. (Oh, the tension of life—supporting others and carrying our own weight. But that’s for another day.) With all that said, if you’re neglecting taking care of the problems in your own area of responsibility so you can “go and solve problems elsewhere” you’re cheating your team and your company out of the support they need. First work on your area of responsibility to better support the overall company, then, if needed and invited, support others.

Lastly, and back to our question at the beginning, don’t think that the problem at hand is yours to solve alone.

An incorrect view of leadership is to think the leader must have all the answers, or they have the best answer. It’s just not true. They may have a perspective that’s different based on areas of their leadership and experience, but their answer doesn’t mean it’s the best answer. That’s the case of the conversation above.

First I listened. Then, after she shared about the situation, I asked the question, “Have you asked your team what they think?”

My friend had a problem in an area of her responsibility. What she was doing wasn’t working, and it wasn’t effective. She knew it. And based on her observations, she thought others knew it, too. It was a problem. In our conversation she mentioned she needed to rethink the meeting and figure out something else to help achieve the desired results. In listening, I had ideas, I thought, we could do this, or this, or maybe try this. But you know what I did, instead? First I listened. Then, after she shared about the situation, I asked the question, “Have you asked your team what they think?” It was a lightbulb moment. Instead of thinking how to solve the problem by herself, she realized she could ask others (who are affected by her decision) if they have any ideas. 

I love this. You know why? It’s going to do so much more than just solve the problem (we’re still working through it, by the way). It’s going to do two things for her, and if you choose to take that risk to invite others into your problems, it will do two things for you, too:

1. It will get her more ideas than she could have come up with by herself.

John Maxwell said that one is too small a number to achieve anything great. When two people come together and each have an idea, if they don’t share, then they both leave with two ideas. But when people collaborate and talk, all of a sudden there is a multiplication effect that happens with ideas. What you thought was one idea to solve the problem has now become three or four possible solutions. When you talk with your team about the challenges you’re looking to solve, they might have some good ideas you never thought of. Ask.

2. It elevates the team as a whole.

One of the greatest challenges in leadership is getting buy-in. Buy-in comes from trust. We ask the question of our leaders, “Can I trust you?” So when our leaders come to us and ask, “I’m trying to solve this challenge, what do you think?” This builds trust because it communicates the leader is looking for support (which we all know they needed anyways) and they care about my ideas. Even if the end solution wasn’t my idea, I’m more bought in to the new decision because I was part of the process. 

We got problems to solve and not a lot of time to solve them. Invite others in, and you’ll see solutions start to emerge.