There are two kinds of supervisors in my book: the folks that like decisions to run thru them, and the folks that share everything, teach everything and push context down.
The folks that lead by making all the final calls aren’t bad or wrong. They often feel like they have more experience, knowledge or context. More often than not, they’re not wrong.
But the consequence of that kind of leadership is that they create natural choke points in execution. They also often see their best talent leave the building because the unspoken message is that in order to take more leadership, you need to get that role elsewhere.
I know all of this firsthand. I’ve been there. I’ve been that kind of leader.
But the consequences are too painful to live in that world. Losing great employees because they want growth is a hard lesson to learn the hard way.
That’s why I’m a big fan of the second kind of leader. The more information, context, and experience I can pass down, the more decisions can get made without me.
A natural consequence of this approach is that great people not only feel empowered to make decisions, not only do they stay longer, but they also learn faster to make better decisions (partly because they’re often closer to the situations that need decisions).
So my challenge to you today is simple: share everything. All the time.