“What is the new response? When my team lands the problem on my desk, what is my new response?” Rafael asked.

“First, your response cannot be to give them the solution. That’s what has created this dependency in the first place,” I replied. “But you cannot leave them twisting in the wind. Your response has to be helpful.”

“What, do I give them hints, start a little guessing game?”

“Hardly, we need to create something solid, that you can consistently use, as a coaching tool. Tell me, Rafael, how do you solve problems?”

Rafael stopped. His eyes glanced at the ceiling. “I don’t know, I guess it depends on the problem. Sometimes, I just know the answer.”

“How do you know the answer?” I pushed.

“I don’t know, experience I guess, it just comes to me.”

“You think it just comes to you, but even if it seems instantaneous, your mind goes through a process to solve the problem. All we have to do is slow your mind down and watch what it thinks.”

You may wonder where the stories for this blog come from. They come from you. But the stories in the blog are only one-sided, you miss the rich discussion attached to the real conversations. We created Working Leadership Online for you to specifically explore your management reality.

Next week, July 6, we kick off our Summer Coaching Series. I would love to see you online. You can find out more by following this link.
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“It’s not the end of the world,” I said. “You have trained your team to let you solve every problem. And it will take time, but you can reverse the damage.”

Rafael smiled. “I am glad to know it’s not fatal. But how do I pull this off. They are still going to bring me their problems, I don’t see how I can stop that. And there are many problems they cannot solve. The team will still need me. I don’t see how I can get out of this spiral.”

“Don’t worry. It’s not as bad as tough love, though it will seem like it in the beginning. Your team will still bring their problems for you to solve, you just have to create a different response. A different response that is helpful. Your beginning, as a coach.”

“So, what is the new response?” Rafael asked.

“You trained your team not to solve problems,” I stated flatly.

Rafael pushed against the table. There was a little teeny tiny vein in his forehead that was beginning to show. “By giving them the answer, I was training them not to solve problems? Ridiculous!”

“Say that again.”

“What? By giving them the answer, I was training them not to solve problems?” Rafael loosened his grip on the table. His head slowly moved from side to side. “So, it was me after all.”
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I would like to thank Jim Heller and his two TEC groups in Milwaukee for their kind hospitality last week as we explored the research of Elliott Jaques and his findings on Time Span. Elliott Jaques – Part II, is now available.

On July 6, Working Leadership Online begins its Summer Coaching Series. Here is the curriculum.

This nine week series is based on the research of Elliott Jaques and his findings on Time Span. Each participant who registers for the series will receive a complimentary copy of Catalytic Coaching, by Gary Markle. Register here.
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“What do you mean?” Rafael leaned forward. “If our customer has a problem, what am I supposed to do, ignore it?”

“You know better than that. You know the problem has to get fixed, but why do you think your guys, faced with a customer problem, always run to you for the answer?” I pushed the ball back in Rafael’s court.

“Well, it’s because I have a couple of decades of experience at this,” floated Rafael.

“No, try again,” I insisted. “Why does your team, faced with a problem, turn to you instead of solving it themselves?”

Rafael stopped. “This is a trick question, isn’t it?”

I raised my eyebrow.

“Don’t be a smart-ass,” Rafael replied. “I guess you are right. We train on our procedures manual when they are first hired, but it’s not like they spend much time with their nose in the book after that. But still, you would think-”

“Stop,” I said. “Stop with the whining. Look, Rafael. Your guys run into a customer problem they can’t solve and they run to you. There are two things going on here. They bring you the problem and what do you do?”

“I give them the answer,” Rafael shot back.

“That’s the first misstep,” I replied.

Wheels up to Milwaukee today. I am working with Jim Heller and his two Vistage groups on the research of Elliott Jaques.
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“So, you feel like your team lines up outside your door, pitching the same problem, over and over at you?” I asked.

“It’s not the same problem,” Rafael replied, “but you would think that if I told them the answer to one problem, they should be able to take the answer and figure out the next one.”

“Is that how you do it?”

“Well, yeah. I mean, most times, our customer’s problems are not that different. You figure out one, and you should be able to figure out the next. And we have the solutions to most of our customer problems written down in our procedures manual.”

“And your team reads the manual a lot?” I smiled.

I would like to thank Karen King and her three Vistage groups in Albuquerque for their kind hospitality last week. Elliott Jaques – Part II, is now available.
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Rafael looked glum. “I’m tired,” he said.

“Physically tired, burned out tired or bummed out tired?” I asked. (This is known as a diagnostic question).

He cracked a smile. “Cross between burned out and bummed out. Seems like I am always solving the same problems, over and over.”

“Like what?”

“It’s my team. It doesn’t seem like they can solve any of the problems they run into. They are always running to me. And it’s the same kind of problem over and over. You would think they would figure it out.”

“What do you think you are going to do?” I pushed.

Rafael leaned back, and joked, “I think I am going to have to get one of those take-a-number machines.”

“Do you bring value in this manager-team member relationship by issuing directives and orders, calling meetings (that she doesn’t show up to), getting angry when she doesn’t do what you tell her to do?” I challenged.

“I would think that she would have some respect,” Joan finally fought back.

I shook my head and stared. “As a manager, you will never get respect, you can only earn respect. And you can only earn respect by bringing value to her problem solving and decision making. Can you bring value by issuing directives and orders?”

“Based on the response I am getting from her, obviously not,” Joan replied.

“Can you bring value to the relationship, value to her problem solving and decision making by asking questions?”

Joan tilted her head back. The tension in her face turned calm. “I can ask questions,” she repeated.

“Can you push her thinking by asking questions? Can you broaden the scope of her solutions? Can you bring in other perspectives by asking questions? Can you challenge her assumptions, bring in alternatives, anticipate contingencies, bottlenecks, all by asking questions?”

Joan smiled, and nodded. “I think I know what to do.”

Headed into Day Two with Karen King’s Vistage group in Albuquerque, NM on the research of Elliott Jaques.
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“You have a tenuous relationship with your most valuable team member,” I stated flatly. “It is your job, as a manager, to bring value to that relationship.”

Joan nodded, but did not speak.

“It is your job, as a manager to bring value to her thinking and her work.” I stopped and changed direction. “What is work?” I asked.

“Well, for my team, it is contacting customers, following up on orders that fall through the cracks, talking about our products,” Joan floated.

“Those are things that you, as a manager, can see, things you can observe. But what is the work?”

I was fishing and Joan wasn’t taking the hook.

“You can watch and observe physical actions, but the work is more difficult to see. The work is making decisions and solving problems. How can you bring value to her decision making and problem solving?”

Greetings from Albuquerque, NM. I am here through Friday with Karen King, a Vistage Chair, working with her groups on the research of Elliott Jaques.
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“It’s not industry experience,” Joan shook her head. ” I’ve been here only eight months, a newcomer to this industry. My problem team member has twelve years experience on me.”

“So, what was it the prompted the company to bring you in, as her manager?” I asked.

“I suppose they didn’t want to lose a valuable producer, moving her into management,” Joan guessed.

“Let me ask you, after twelve years, as a producer for this company, do you think there are any techniques she doesn’t know?”

Joan was looking for the trick in the question. “No, she knows the process cold, great relationships with our customers.”

“Then what value do you bring to her work?” I prodded. “Because that is why this company brought you in from the outside. And it is this value that will earn the respect.”