Leadership | People Development
There is a paradox in leadership:
The better a manager becomes at solving every problem, the fewer opportunities the team may have to learn how to solve problems themselves.
When employees face difficulties, the manager immediately provides the answer. When a difficult decision arises, the manager decides. When something goes wrong, the manager steps in and fixes it.
This approach may deliver short-term results, but over time, it can create long-term dependency.
The more important question is:
Is the leader simply creating results—or building the capability to create results?
From “Doing for the Team” to “Enabling the Team”
Research by Gallup shows that managers have a significant influence on employees’ workplace experience. Gallup estimates that managers account for approximately 70% of the variance in employee engagement across business units.
This highlights an important reality:
A manager’s role is not simply to assign tasks and monitor KPIs.
Managers create the environment in which people can develop their capability, confidence, and performance.
Yet this is also where many organizations face a challenge.
According to Deloitte’s 2025 Global Human Capital Trends, managers spend nearly 40% of their time on immediate problem-solving and administrative work, while only around 13% of their time is devoted to developing people.
In other words:
Many managers are so busy managing the work that they have too little time to develop the people.
Leadership Is Not About Having All the Answers
A manager may say:
“Do it this way.”
A leader who develops people is more likely to ask:
“If you were ultimately responsible for this decision, what would you do—and why?”
The difference is significant.
An answer solves today’s problem.
The right question develops capability for tomorrow’s problem.
This is also consistent with research from McKinsey, which highlights that effective leadership development goes beyond transferring knowledge. Development is more effective when it is connected to the organization’s strategy and real work context, provides opportunities for application, and reinforces behavioral change over time.
The goal is therefore not simply to make people know more.
It is to help them think better, act with greater confidence, and take greater ownership.
A Simple Test of Leadership
Ask yourself:
“If I were away for a month, what would happen to my team?”
If every important decision still has to wait for you, every difficult problem still comes to you, and people still need you to tell them exactly what to do—you may have become indispensable.
But if your team can continue to make decisions, solve problems, collaborate, and take ownership of results without you, you have created something far more valuable:
a capable team.
That is a higher level of leadership.
Because ultimately, leadership success should not be measured only by:
“How much have I accomplished?”
It should also be measured by:
“How many people have I helped become capable of doing what they could not do before?”
The LET Perspective
At LET, we believe that leadership development must go beyond knowledge acquisition.
Its ultimate purpose is to strengthen people capability and organizational capability—so that individuals and teams can create sustainable results with greater ownership and resilience.
Lead – Create direction and purpose.
Empower – Build capability and ownership.
Transform – Turn capability into action and results.
Because a good leader can create results.
But an exceptional leader creates people who can continue creating results.
References:
Gallup – The Manager’s Role in Improving Teamwork / Employee Engagement
Deloitte – 2025 Global Human Capital Trends
McKinsey & Company – What’s Missing in Leadership Development?
