What if you could take any tough topic, find insight to shift your thinking, and build a simple plan for resolving the complication?
Many executive clients come to me wanting to work through issues in real time.
Over the years, I’ve developed a laser-coaching approach that gets to the core—often in just 30 minutes.
Do any of these sound familiar?
“I’m the only one who knows how to solve the problem; it would take forever for anyone else to figure it out.”
“You have no idea how much my team needs me—I’m the glue.”
“If they don’t get it right, it’s going to reflect poorly on me.”
We’ve all been there.
Recently, I’ve created a process I call TIPS: Topic, Insight, Plan—and, most importantly, asking ‘So what?’
Here’s TIPS in action:
The topic: solving your team’s problems.
Gillian, a senior director, told me how much time she spent on tasks her team could easily do. When I asked what would happen if she stopped jumping in, she was skeptical.
“But I already know the answer! Isn’t it better for everyone if I just tell them?”
As we dug deeper, it became obvious: holding that mindset never gave her the relief she wanted. By doing all the heavy lifting, she guaranteed her own overload.
The insight: step back.
Her breakthrough came when she saw the impact of flipping the question back to her team.
She tried asking, “What have you tried so far?” This simple shift reframed Gillian’s approach. Instead of supplying answers, she let her team propose solutions and then collaborated from there. While she often had the right answer in mind, her team couldn’t develop their own thinking if she always led with it.
The plan: collect ideas.
For the next week, Gillian resolved to avoid “telling.” She’d start each conversation by asking how her team had addressed the issue, then she’d listen—allowing their ideas to come forward. She kept her own opinions to herself and supported them as needed, letting her team find their approach and build confidence through the process.
This lines up with a decision-making spectrum written by Csaba Okrona, head of engineering at EYGM:
- Decide: Take charge when it’s high-stakes, or urgent. Rare.
- Advise: Guide on complex issues. Occasional.
- Coach: Build skills around challenges they cans solve. Frequent.
- Delegate: Hand off day-to-day decisions for them to own. Most common.
Okrona’s message for managers? We default to “Decide” too often, while most growth comes from “Coach” and “Delegate.”
So what?
I circled back with Gillian, who told me
“I’m not in the weeds anymore. Even if I’m not sure their solution is perfect, the team is figuring it out in ways that work for them.”
She’s ready to see how this might lighten her load.
I’m curious how this resonates with your leadership experience.
How might your problem-solving change if you step back and gather ideas before diving in? I’d love to hear your thoughts.
