I have observed a common scene in many organizations: a team grapples with persistent, critical problems, often a legacy issue inherited over years. They present the facts, findings and potential solutions to top management, only to be met with a barrage of questions. While questioning is crucial for understanding, there’s a critical difference between insightful inquiry and simply deferring the problem back to the team.
In my view, true leadership, especially in today’s dynamic business landscape, demands more than just oversight. It requires top management to roll up their sleeves, delve into the trenches, and work hand-in-hand with their teams to dismantle challenges – particularly those deeply entrenched legacy problems that hinder progress. This isn’t just about fostering a better culture; it’s about directly impacting a company’s trajectory towards becoming a high-throughput, high-performing entity.
The Pitfalls of Passive Leadership
When top management’s role is perceived as solely asking questions, several detrimental effects can emerge:
- Demoralization: Teams can feel unheard and unsupported, leading to decreased morale and engagement.
- Stagnation: Legacy problems, often complex and requiring significant resource allocation, fester and continue to impede growth.
- Missed Opportunities: Valuable insights and innovative solutions from the team may be overlooked or dismissed if leadership isn’t actively participating in the problem-solving process.
- Siloed Thinking: Teams might become accustomed to “managing up” rather than truly collaborating with leadership, creating organizational silos.
The Power of Proactive Partnership
Imagine a different scenario: a team identifies a persistent operational bottleneck. Instead of simply requesting a detailed report, top management actively joins the brainstorming sessions, offers insights from their broader organizational perspective, and even dedicates resources to help pilot potential solutions. This proactive partnership yields significant benefits:
- Shared Ownership and Accountability: When leaders actively participate, the problem becomes a collective challenge, fostering a sense of shared responsibility for its resolution.
- Unlocking Resources and overcoming constraints: Top management has the authority to allocate resources, remove bureaucratic hurdles, and connect teams with the right internal or external expertise.
- Mentorship and Skill Development: Working alongside leaders provides invaluable learning opportunities for team members, enhancing their problem-solving and strategic thinking skills.
- Faster, More Effective Solutions: Direct involvement from leadership often leads to quicker decision-making and more robust implementation of solutions. Teams don’t need management sitting in ivory towers & avoiding problems, they need partners in solving critical challenges.
- Building a Culture of Trust and Collaboration: When teams see their leaders invested in their success, it cultivates a strong foundation of trust and open communication.
Tackling Legacy Problems Head-On
Legacy problems are notoriously difficult to dislodge. They often have deep roots in past processes, technologies, or even cultural norms. Shying away from these issues perpetuates their negative impact. Top management, with their strategic vision and organizational authority, are uniquely positioned to spearhead their resolution. This might involve:
- Championing Change: Clearly communicating the importance of addressing the legacy issue and inspiring the organization to embrace the necessary changes.
- Resource Allocation: Providing the dedicated budget, time, and personnel required to dismantle complex, long-standing problems.
- Cross-Functional Collaboration: Facilitating partnerships between different departments that might be impacted by or hold keys to solving the legacy issue.
- Persistence and Patience: Recognizing that legacy problems rarely have quick fixes and committing to a sustained effort until they are genuinely resolved.
Profound Consulting can help create systems & structures to align the top management & teams towards a common objective where problems are solved to its roots. Where there is harmony within the teams & where the teams are empowered to discuss openly with top management with a open door policy.
Ready to move beyond surface-level leadership?
Let’s work together to align your top management and teams for real transformation.Contact Profound Consulting to start building an organisation that solves problems at the root.
Frequently Asked Questions
1. Why is collaborating with leadership important for solving team challenges?
Collaborating with leadership ensures that problem-solving goes beyond surface-level fixes. When leaders engage directly with teams, they bring a broader organizational perspective, unlock resources, and foster shared accountability. This partnership helps resolve complex legacy issues that teams often cannot tackle alone.
2. How does a broader organizational perspective improve decision-making?
A broader organizational perspective allows leaders to see how individual team challenges connect to wider company goals. This insight helps prioritize resources, break down silos, and align cross-functional efforts. As a result, solutions are not only faster but also sustainable across the organization.
3. What happens when top management only questions instead of co-creating solutions?
When leadership limits its role to questioning, teams can feel unsupported and demoralized. Legacy problems remain unresolved, innovation is stifled, and organizational silos deepen. In contrast, co-creation with leadership transforms challenges into opportunities for growth and collaboration.
4. How can top management foster a culture of trust and collaboration?
Top management can foster trust by working alongside teams, offering mentorship, and dedicating resources to problem-solving. By championing change, encouraging open communication, and tackling legacy issues head-on, leaders build a culture where collaboration thrives and employees feel valued.
