“What are the problems you create?” I asked.

“The problems I have, or the problems I create?” Paula stepped back. “I mean, I have problems, but I don’t try to create problems.”

“But, if you did create problems, what would they be?” I pressed.

Paula paused, searching. “I guess, it would be a problem of omission. It’s not that I did something that created a problem, more like something I didn’t do.”

“Example?”

“As the CEO, I notice things that others don’t notice,” she started. “A detail that got skipped, a hasty decision based solely on gut response, escalation of an emotion that makes things worse. I notice things like that.”

“And?”

“Sometimes, I let them go, hoping they will self-correct.”

“And, do they self correct?” I wanted to know.

Paula pursed her lips. “Actually, no. I mean sometimes by a quirk of fate, but mostly no.”

“Then, what happens?”

“Eventually, the problem gets bigger. Maybe the first time was with a small customer that didn’t notice. But, then, it’s a big customer who immediately sees the problem. It’s something I could have stopped in the beginning, but didn’t. Now, it’s a big problem. I could blame it on the team member, but I am the one who caused the problem, because I saw it and did nothing.”