Things Leaders Do

Drowning in Decisions? You’re Leading the Wrong Way

• Colby Morris

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Drowning in Decisions? You’re Leading the Wrong Way

Podcast Description
If your team can’t move without your input, you’re not leading—you’re bottlenecking.

In this episode of Things Leaders Do, Colby Morris shares the leadership shift that changed everything when he was managing a 350-person team. If you're overwhelmed by decision fatigue or constantly solving problems your team could handle, this episode will show you how to stop being the answer—and start building a team that knows how to think without you.

You’ll learn:

  • Why answering every question is slowing you—and your team—down
  • How to coach your people into confident, independent decision-makers
  • A practical question that ends decision paralysis
  • How to lead with people in mind—ethically, strategically, and with trust
  • Why developing leaders is one of your most important jobs

Leadership Challenge:
Stop giving every answer. Start asking better questions.
Set the expectation: if they bring a problem, they bring two solutions.

If this episode helped you lead better:
Leave a quick review and share it with another leader. That’s how we grow this movement and build stronger teams, together.

Need a speaker for your next leadership event, team training, or offsite?
Colby works with organizations across the country to develop people-first leaders who know how to move fast without burning out.
To connect, visit: NxtStepAdvisors.com 

or connect on LinkedIn:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/colby-morris/


Speaker 1:

Hello leaders and welcome back to the TLD podcast. I'm Colby Morris and my goal here is to help you become a better leader faster. No fluff, no theory dumps, just real, actionable tools you can use right now. Today's episode is going to hit home if you're feeling buried in decisions. If you're feeling buried in decisions constantly asked for input or like your team just can't move unless you say go. We're talking about how to stop being the bottleneck and start being a team of empowered, thoughtful problem solvers. But before we dive in, if this podcast has helped you lead better, would you do me a favor? Would you leave a quick review wherever you're listening and send this episode to another leader who could use it? That's how we start making real change by growing together. Hey, if you're listening to this while juggling 17 different decisions that all somehow landed on your desk today, I get it. And we need to talk, because here's what I've learned the best leaders aren't the ones making the most decisions. They're actually the ones making the fewest. And if that sounds backwards to you, stick with me.

Speaker 1:

I want to share a story that completely changed how I think about leadership, and it might do the same for you. Say, a few years back I was drowning, leading 350 people with 25 direct reports, and somehow everything required my input. Colby, what should we do about this client issue? Colby, how do you want us to handle this budget question? Colby, can you decide on this hiring decision? Does that sound familiar?

Speaker 1:

I thought this was leadership. I thought being needed meant I was doing my job well. But here's the truth. I didn't want to admit. I had accidentally trained my team to be helpless. Every time they brought me a problem, I solved it. Every time they faced uncertainty, I gave them the answer. I thought I was being really helpful, but really I was creating a bottleneck with my name on it. And the crazy part, my team was full of smart, capable people who could absolutely handle these decisions. I just wasn't letting them, I wasn't leading them that way. So I tried something different. I told my team one day look, I'm still here to help you, but from now on, when you bring me a question, I'm going to ask you one back. What do you think we should do?

Speaker 1:

The first few weeks were. The first few weeks were interesting. A lot of uncomfortable silence, some pushback. But, colby, that's why we have you to make these calls. But then something shifted. They started coming to me less. When they did come, they brought options, not just problems. They say things like here's the situation and here are three ways I see us handling it, and here's kind of what I'm leaning toward. That's when I realized something powerful I wasn't just getting my time back. I was watching my team grow into the leaders they were meant to be.

Speaker 1:

Now let me be clear about something this isn't about abdication. It's not about throwing your hands up and saying figure it out yourself. That's not leadership. That's abandonment. This is about development. It's about recognizing that every time you make a decision your team could handle, you rob them of a chance to grow and you rob yourself of the chance to focus on the things only you can do.

Speaker 1:

Think about it. What are the decisions that actually require your unique perspective, your authority or your experience? Those are the ones worth your mental energy. The rest, that's where you develop your people.

Speaker 1:

So here's how this looks practically when someone brings you a problem, resist the urge to immediately solve it. Instead, get curious, say things like what options do you see? What would you do if I wasn't here? Or what's your gut telling you? Or have we done this? Or something similar to this in the past. Sometimes they'll have the perfect solution already. They just needed, like permission, to trust themselves. Other times, you'll help them think through it together, but notice the difference You're thinking with them, not for them. And yes, sometimes they'll make mistakes. That's part of the deal. But here's what I've learned the cost of those mistakes is almost always less than the cost of keeping smart people dependent on you. Think about it what's more expensive Occasionally having to course correct a decision your team member made, or being the permanent bottleneck that slows down everything your organization is trying to accomplish? You know the answer Now. That said, you're still going to have decisions that land on your desk the big ones, the complex ones, the ones that really do need your experience and your authority.

Speaker 1:

When those moments come, here's the framework that saved me countless hours of second-guessing myself. I always ask is any new information coming that would change this decision? If the answer is no, I decide right then. If the answer is yes, then I set a deadline for when that information needs to arrive. Because here's what I learned the hard way Time doesn't make decisions easier unless it brings new data. Otherwise, you're just procrastinating with a fancy name.

Speaker 1:

This connects us to something Patrick Lencioni writes about in his book the Advantage. He talks about how leaders get paralyzed, waiting for perfection or perfect information. That never comes. But successful organizations don't wait for certainty. They act on. Get this clarity. Here's what that means practically. You don't need to know every possible outcome. You need to understand the situation well enough to make a good decision with the information you have. Then and this is key you need the humility to adjust when you learn more. Lincione puts it this way it's better to be roughly right and moving forward than precisely wrong and standing still. Perfect clarity is a luxury most leaders can't afford and they won't ever get, but sufficient clarity that's available to all of us if we're willing to act on it. Now here's what I never want you to forget in all of this Every decision you make creates a story in someone else's life, and they're trusting you to make a good one.

Speaker 1:

I learned this lesson when I had to restructure part of my team a few years ago. On paper, it made perfect sense More efficient reporting structure, clearer accountability, better resource allocation. All the business metrics pointed to, yes, but I almost missed something crucial. This decision was going to change how one of my best managers. Let's call her Sarah. It would change how she spent her days. It would shift her relationships, her sense of influence, her daily experience of work. The efficient decision would have left her feeling demoted, confused, even though that wasn't the intent at all. So I had to pivot a bit. I slowed down. I had a conversation with her. First, I wanted to explain the why behind the change and how it fit into our bigger picture and, most importantly, how I saw her role actually expanding in ways that mattered to her career growth. Same decision, completely different story.

Speaker 1:

This is what I mean by leading with people in mind. It's not about avoiding hard decisions or always choosing the path that makes everyone happy. It's about recognizing that behind every org chart line, every budget cut, every strategic pivot, there are real humans trying to do good work and provide for their families. So before you decide, especially on the big stuff, I want you to pause and ask how will this impact our people, not just their productivity, but their sense of purpose, their trust and leadership, their belief that they matter here. Sometimes the most efficient decision isn't the most human one. For those of you in the back I'm going to say that again. For those of you in the back. I'm going to say that again. Sometimes the most efficient decision isn't the most human one, and when you're faced with that choice, remember this you can always recover from a slightly slower process. It's much harder to recover from broken trust. So here's what I want you to try this week.

Speaker 1:

First, have a conversation with your team.

Speaker 1:

Don't just bring this change on them. That's not fair to anyone. Sit them down and say something like I want to help you grow as leaders and decision makers. Starting this week, when you bring me a challenge, I'm going to ask what you think we should do. This isn't me being difficult. It's me believing in your ability to solve problems. Look, set the expectations up front. Let them know this is about development, not abandonment.

Speaker 1:

Then, when someone brings you a problem, resist the urge to immediately solve it, and you'll have that urge. Ask them what they think. Push them gently to bring you options, not just issues. And when you do need to make a call yourself, make it with clarity, not certainty. Make it with your people in mind, because, at the end of the day, your job isn't to have all the answers. Your job is to build a team that knows how to find them. Hey, if you're working on that and need help, I want you to know I'm here. Whether it's coaching, training your team or speaking at your next leadership event, I'd love to help you build stronger, more empowered leaders. Just check the link in the show notes. And if you're feeling overwhelmed by decisions right now, the challenge is simple Stop answering every question, start asking better ones. Build a team that doesn't rely on you for every answer, but knows how to find them without you. And you know why Because those are the things that leaders do.

Speaker 2:

Thank you for listening to Things Leaders Do. If you're looking for more tips on how to be a better leader, be sure to subscribe to the podcast and listen to next week's episode. Until next time, keep working on being a better leader by doing the things that leaders do.