Stop Being Your Team's Safety Net (And Start Building Leaders Who Actually Lead)

Let me tell you about Sarah, a senior executive I worked with last year. Brilliant woman. Could spot problems before they became disasters and had a track record of delivering results. But she was working 65-hour weeks because her managers couldn't make simple decisions without her blessing. Sound familiar?

Here's the brutal truth: if your team treats you like their personal Google search, you've got a leadership pipeline problem. And it's costing you more than just sleep.

The Numbers Don't Lie (And They're Not Pretty)

Senior leaders spend only 25% of their time on strategic work. The other 75%? We're putting out fires, answering questions that should never reach our desk, and basically being overpaid babysitters for grown professionals.

But here's what really should make you mad: by 2023, nearly 44 out of every 1,000 workers ended up in formal performance procedures. That often means we've watched good people struggle for months before finally admitting we have a problem.

Think about that for a second. These aren't bad employees we're talking about. These are people who have degrees, understand their field, and can handle complex tasks that would make your head spin. Yet we're putting them through formal performance procedures because they can't figure out when to escalate an issue or how to communicate with other departments.

That's not a performance problem. That's a leadership development failure.

The Real Cost of Playing It Safe

Every time someone on your team says "I'll just check with you first," a little part of your strategic brain dies. Every time you solve a problem instead of teaching them how to solve it, you're creating exactly the kind of dependency that keeps you chained to your desk.

And let's be honest about what this does to your pipeline. When your managers don't know how to make decisions, handle difficult conversations, or prioritize competing demands, who exactly is going to step up when you need a director? When your directors can't manage stakeholder relationships or think strategically about business impact, where's your next VP coming from?

We're not just overworked. We're systematically destroying our own succession plans.

The Coaching Solution (It's Simpler Than You Think)

Here's what I learned after working with hundreds of leaders: the solution isn't more training programs or bigger budgets. It's changing how we respond when people bring us problems.

Instead of saying "Here's what you should do," try "What do you think we should do?" Instead of jumping in to fix their stakeholder communication issue, ask "How do you think we should approach this?"

This isn't some feel-good management theory. The research backs this up hard. Organizations using coaching see 72% improved productivity, with individual productivity jumping up to 50%. Even better, 86% report measurable business impact from their coaching efforts.

But here's what the statistics don't capture: the relief you feel when your team starts solving problems on their own. The satisfaction of watching someone you've coached confidently present to senior leadership. The freedom of actually having time for strategic planning instead of constant firefighting.

Small Shifts, Big Results

In my Women Who Count session on October 24th, I'll show you exactly how successful leaders break this cycle. We'll talk about how to have coaching conversations that build confidence instead of creating more questions. How to help your team develop the business judgment they need to make good decisions on their own.

You'll learn how to recognize those coaching moments in your daily work. How a simple question framework can transform someone from a problem-bringer to a solution-finder. How to help your people see the bigger picture so they can prioritize like leaders, not just individual contributors.

Most importantly, we'll address the unique challenges we face as women in leadership. We often feel pressure to have all the answers, to never show uncertainty, to prove we belong in the room. But embracing a coaching approach actually makes you stronger, not weaker. When you coach instead of rescue, you're building trust and capability at the same time.

Can’t make the session? Contact us and we’ll share some insights.