The Problem with "Telling": Why Advice Giving Stifles Your Team
Telling your employees what to do might feel safe and it might feel like the way to ensure things get done exactly as you envision. But constant oversight impedes accountability, stifles creativity, and holds your team back. Imagine if your employees:
Solved their own problems and came to you with solutions
Demonstrated the confidence and creativity to innovate
Had the clarity and purpose to be a high performing team
In this leadership blog we will cover the impacts of telling / advice giving (i.e. micromanaging) and provide you with the first step to changing this behavior. Most leaders with a telling leadership style have good intentions: “I tell them what to do because their safety is at risk”, “I have learned the hard way”, “I have more experience”. Regardless of the good intention, this approach does not help your employee learn and grow, it actually does the opposite.
Solve problems and offer solutions
Ultimately leaders want their employees to solve problems and offer solutions. The problem with telling employees what to do is that eventually they will give up and come to you to solve their problems. You may have experienced this yourself. Have you ever had a boss who only told you what to do? Do you remember what that felt like? Often it results in employees who get so frustrated they stop thinking because their contributions mean nothing. They show up, do the minimum necessary and remain disengaged. Employees do not need you to tell them what to do. They don’t need you to solve their problems. They need you to give them space to think and contribute.
Demonstrate confidence and creativity to innovate
Establishing an innovative and creative work environment involves ensuring that employees feel confident, open, and ready to take risks. Leading by giving direct orders implies that you believe you know best and that your way is the only way. This might come off as arrogant and make employees feel undervalued. At a minimum it will deplete the confidence needed to be creative and take the risk associated with being innovative. Assume your employees are whole, creative and resourceful, ask them what they think before you tell them.
High performing team with clarity and purpose
Advice giving will eventually damage the entire team. When you believe that your team needs you to know the answers and give advice, you assume they don’t know, can’t make decisions or solve problems. Another problem with advice giving is that you might be solving the wrong problem. Getting to the real problem takes time and curiosity. It is rarely the first thing that comes up. Your solutions are often mediocre because you most likely don’t have the full picture, just a few facts that have been viewed through your filter. Advice giving demotivates and causes extra unnecessary work. Your team will lack the clarity and purpose needed for high performance, teams will be overwhelmed and frustrated. Empower your team by providing them with purpose and clarity, then listen and ask the right questions.
Hopefully this leadership blog has convinced you that telling / advice giving is a form of micromanaging and while it is typically from good intention, it actually does not help your employees learn and grow. When you are ready, take this first step to change your behavior.
Ask yourself, what would I do differently if I knew my employees were whole, creative and resourceful?
This is not easy behavior to change, it’s hard. Use this question to get yourself to start thinking differently.
