Why Leaders Keep Solving the Wrong Problems
Have you ever walked away from a difficult conversation feeling like you nailed it, only to find yourself having the same conversation a month later? If you've had the same leadership conversation more than twice, there's a good chance you aren't solving the real problem. In this episode of The Champion Forum Podcast, we’re talking about why leaders solve the wrong problem and the simple three steps you can take to ensure that you solve the right ones.
We naturally respond to what we can see. Often, this includes missed deadlines, poor attitudes, declining sales numbers, or lateness. But visible behaviors are often just the symptoms. Great leaders become detectives who uncover what is causing the symptoms and then address the underlying issue.
3 Common Situations Where Leaders Solve The Wrong Problems
Example 1: The Employee Who is Always Late.
The Situation: Your employee is always late.
The Response: Most leaders sit them down and say, "Listen, you've been late three times this week." I need you here at eight o'clock.
The Problem: That's not a bad conversation; it's just incomplete. Changes in childcare, transportation, or even health can affect punctuality. A great leader asks questions before making assumptions.
Example Two: Low Sales Performance
The Situation: A salesperson isn't producing.
The Response: You tell them they need to make more calls and add more people to their sales pipeline.
The Problem: Adding more prospects can help a salesperson have more opportunities to close sales, but it assumes volume is the biggest problem. Maybe they're calling the wrong prospects. Maybe they don't believe in their opening. Regardless, if you tell them to prospect more, you're coaching activity. When the real issue is capability or confidence, these are two very different problems.
Example Three: Poor Communication
The Situation: Your team members aren’t communicating.
The Response: You tell your team to prepare more and speak up.
The Problem: Some people struggle to communicate because they are unprepared or lack the necessary skills. But your assumption ignores your role in their communication. Do they feel safe speaking up? Do they believe you’re going to listen? Sometimes what looks like a communication problem is really a trust problem wearing a different uniform.
3 Steps To Solving The Right Problems
The next time you're preparing to coach someone, I want you to ask yourself three questions.
What problem am I seeing?
Don’t worry about what you think is happening. Be specific about what you can actually observe. Ex. "The employee has been late four times." "The salesperson hasn't hit quota." "The team rarely speaks up during meetings." Those are observations, not conclusions.
What problem could be causing it?
This is where great leaders separate themselves. Instead of assuming, they investigate. Imagine sitting down with that employee who's been late. Instead of saying, "You've got to start showing up on time.” What if you said, "I've noticed you've been late several times over the last two weeks. Help me understand what's changed." Now you've opened a conversation. Maybe they tell you their spouse started working nights, transportation has become unreliable, or maybe they’re just overwhelmed. Or maybe they say, I’ve gotten careless. Either way, now you know you’re solving the right problem.
What am I assuming right now?
Assumptions are dangerous. They convince us that we have diagnosed the issue when, in reality, we have only identified the symptom. Leaders who ask better questions make better decisions, and better decisions create better teams.
Q: What common assumptions do you make? Have you ever had someone make an assumption about you? What was the result of that assumption? How did it affect your work? Your relationship?
Application Activity:
Ask yourself where you struggle most. Are you being specific? Or are you addressing your feelings about their behavior? Are you being curious, or are you asking open-ended questions? And finally, are you making assumptions, or are you letting the employee speak for themselves? After you identify your current blind spot, write a note to yourself and put it somewhere you can see it with the corresponding question. Use that question to help you solve the right problems this week, not the ones you think you need to solve.
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