Author: Juli Shulem
When I was in high school i realized Leaders You Dont Need To Have All The Answers, there was a teacher that had a brilliant line when he was asked a question that he didn’t know the answer to in the moment. He would state: “That is beyond the scope of this course,” with a […]
When I was in high school i realized Leaders You Dont Need To Have All The Answers, there was a teacher that had a brilliant line when he was asked a question that he didn’t know the answer to in the moment. He would state: “That is beyond the scope of this course,” with a smile.
The class would always chuckle because on the first day of class, he shared that he would say that exact sentence when he was asked such a question. He turned out to be a great teacher and one whom all the students admired and spoke highly of.
Coaching leaders who fret that they should have all the answers often reminds me of this teacher. Simply put: Leaders don’t always have to have an answer – especially in the moment. As leaders, believing you know everything is a sure-fire way to lose respect and fall flat on your face. When your direct reports ask for guidance, information, or help in some way – they are needing your support – generally not an immediate answer. Sometimes they don’t want any answer at all – they just want to be guided in finding their own answer. Other times they just might need to talk it out and come to some conclusions by being listened to.
Ah-ha…so how do you discern what to do in such a situation?
First of all, remember that you are leading a TEAM. You are not a ‘Solo-Preneur.’ Collaboration is expected and preferred. Each member of your team wants to feel valued – that means that sometimes THEY would like to have the answer once-in-a-while. And then you have an opportunity to praise their success in solving that problem. This does not remove your power or leadership – it ignites it! Consider what happens when you delegate to a team member to find an answer or solve a problem:
You are not weakened by empowering others. It is actually a sign of strength when you empower others. You are putting your trust in them and the majority of the time – those people will rise to the occasion and be excited about their job and the role they play. You, as leader, may find at times you are simply making sure everything is running on time, happening as it needs to, and keeping all the balls in the air until the project is complete.
I learned years ago that having all the answers is truly impossible. Expecting to be able to do so, is a sure path to feeling like a failure and winding up with lowered self-esteem. The best you can do is work at finding the answer…and sometimes that may mean you go to someone else who knows more about a subject than you might.
I explained to a supervisor recently that even the CEO of a company doesn’t have all the answers. They don’t even know how to do everything that is done within that company – even if they founded it. But what they do know how to do is hire people who know more than they do and let those people lead. They delegate in the purest form. Business is a group effort. Can you imagine if Google or Apple were run by one person??? Exactly!
Article written by: Juli Shulem, M.S., CPC, PCP an Organizing Expert from Georgia.
Contact Us at WeSpeak Global and follow us on Twitter
Author Profile
The articles, video and images embedded on these pages are from various speakers and talent.
These remain the property of its owner and are not affiliated with or endorsed by WeSpeak Global.
I was fantasising about a new Outlook feature today. No really, I am that sad! Here was my fantasy, Stop inviting everyone whenever you create a new meeting event, there is a little box showing the estimated meeting cost. This cost should double as you double the length of the meeting and also double when […]
Do You Have Blinders On? | Confirmation Bias is a term we’ve heard a lot over the last few years as science has become a debate topic and you hear qualified experts providing completely opposite interpretations on the same topic. But what role does it play in your life if you aren’t doing studies and […]
No doubting Lock-down has been a challenging time for almost all South Africans as We can travel again… Perhaps less so for government officials, seen attending funerals puffing cigarettes, and others who have been on full salary, but for most of us a very difficult time. The President’s announcement of easing restrictions to Level 2 from […]
This The Incredible Desert Elephants expedition was the first in a series of five Beyond Expeditions with Jacques Marais and Peter van Kets. The idea was to mountain bike the edge of the incredible Namib Desert from Serra Cafema on the Angolan border to Swakopmund along the coast of Namibia. In this episode, we take […]
Sam Stewart, She survived breast cancer, an abusive marriage, financial ruin, a failed suicide attempt, body dysmorphia and much more, rises to the top and is back on her feet with purpose. If Oprah Winfrey, Brené Brown and Joan of Arc somehow managed to have a lovechild together, the result would most likely be Cape […]
The word strategy has become a word that often evokes fear, confusion, and in most cases stress as to how to Identifying and executing a winning strategy. The reason for it, is a strategy has often not been thought through, and the outcome has not been outlined. What I mean by that is, we often […]
IT’S A NORMAL DAY ON ALIWAL SHOAL. ABOVE TWENTY DEGREES CELSIUS, BLUE WATER WITH SMALL PARTICLES, A LITTLE BIT OF A CURRENT PUSHING, WE DRIFT ALONG WITH IT, WAITING FOR THE SHARKS… (THIS IS THE STORY OF MY FIRST EVER FREEDIVE WITH SHARKS) It’s a clear blue sky, warm air and a slight breeze- […]
A couple of weeks ago I was in Orlando for a talk and I knew the THE 3 C’S OF ELITE TALENT DEVELOPMENT. The night before I was sitting at the hotel restaurant grabbing some dinner. Out of the corner of my eye I saw that there was a basketball game on the tv at […]
Our Mission
© All rights reserved 2025. Created using VOXEL THEME
