Leaders often struggle with feeling of being overwhelmed by day-to-day issues and “getting stuck in the weeds.” In particular, front-line supervisors or managers often find themselves spending more time than they’d like solving problems that they believe others should be able to solve. The problem is that this dynamic takes time away from planning, being strategic, and focusing on the more important or greater added value work that they could be doing. It is not to say that a manager should not support his or her direct reports and be there to help them solve problems. This issue seems to come up most when leaders feel they continually are dealing with the same issues, solving the same problems for the same people; when they feel others should have the skill and ability to deal with these issues themselves.
The answer is NOT, to not be available or not be willing to help when others have issues, questions or problems they cannot understand. The answer is to shift the burden of the answer from you to the other person. Leaders who manage this dynamic well are good at creating a culture where people know they can come to you with questions or issues they need help with, as long as they also come with a proposed solution to discuss.
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Inciting Leaders 