How to Coach Teams in Problem Solving

Passionate problem solvers are easy to label as "too negative" or "having an agenda". Here's a good approach to bringing people on the journey: 1. Start with what you see and hear Describe specific behaviors, patterns, or outcomes as objectively as possible (knowing that we can never be truly objective). Be mindful of your potential biases. Are your emotions and perspective narrowing what you bring up? Avoid using loaded or triggering language. Keep it neutral and clear. 2. Invite others to share what they see and hear By starting with your own observations, you are setting an example for the rest of the team. Invite the team to share their perspectives and observations in ways that focus on understanding, rather than labeling or jumping to conclusions. In the right context, it might be better to start here. 3. Look inwards, observe, and listen Just as you describe outward behaviors, turn inward and notice how you feel about what you’re seeing and hearing. Instead of saying, “This place is a pressure cooker,” try, “I feel a lot of pressure.” Avoid jumping to conclusions or ascribing blame. Again, invite other people to do the same. 4. Spot areas to explore With observations and emotions on the table, identify areas worth examining. Avoid rushing to label them as problems or opportunities. Instead, frame them as questions or areas to look into. This keeps the tone open and focused on discovery. 5. Explore and go deeper As potential areas emerge, repeat the earlier steps: describe what you see, invite others to share, and observe how you feel. It is a recursive/iterative process—moving up and down levels of detail. 6. Look for alignment and patterns Notice where people are starting to align on what they’d like to see more—or less—of. Pay attention to areas where there’s consistent divergence—these are opportunities as well. Ask, “What might it take to narrow the divide?” 7. Frame clear opportunities Once patterns emerge, focus on turning them into clear opportunities. These are not solutions—they’re starting points for exploration. For example: “We could improve this handoff process” or “We’re not all on the same page about priorities.” Keep it actionable and forward-looking. 8. Brainstorm small experiments Use opportunities as a springboard to brainstorm simple, manageable experiments. Think of these as ways to test and learn, not perfect fixes. For example: “What if we tried a weekly check-in for this process?” Keep the ideas practical and easy to implement. 9. Stay grounded and flexible Be mindful of how the group is feeling and responding as you brainstorm. Are people rushing to solutions or becoming stuck? If so, take a step back and revisit earlier steps to re-center the group. 10. Step back. Let the group own it Once there’s momentum, step back and hand over ownership to the group. Avoid holding onto the issue as “your problem.” Trust the process you’ve built and the team’s ability to move things forward collectively.

Your team isn't arguing about solutions. They're solving different problems. A senior leader I coached expressed frustration. The same issues kept resurfacing, no matter how often they met. Marketing wanted faster product launches. Product wanted more customer data upfront. Operations wanted clearer handoffs. Each team saw a different problem. They all proposed solutions.None of them stuck. What I saw: ❌ They were solving different problems ❌ No one named what they were actually solving for ❌ Solutions were developed in silos, then defended in meetings ❌ They skipped alignment because speed felt like progress The conflict wasn’t about disagreement. It was about unspoken assumptions. What we did instead: ✅ Slowed down before solving ✅ Asked: What problem are we solving, and for whom? ✅ Named what success looked like from each function's view ✅ Made space for different contexts before debating solutions ✅ Built agreement on the problem before proposing fixes What changed: → Meetings became fewer, shorter, and more focused → Solutions lasted instead of unraveling → Cross-functional tension dropped → Teams stopped firefighting the same issues → Decisions stuck because everyone was solving the same problem Over time, the shift became part of how they operated. As the leader put it: “The context step is non-negotiable. It saves us from solving the wrong thing fast.” When you rush to solutions, you create the firefighting that keeps you stuck. When you slow down, you start to realize: Shared understanding is the fastest way to solve something once (and well). 💬 What's one question you could ask before offering your next solution? 💾 Save this for your next cross-functional meeting 🔔 Follow Michelle Awuku-Tatum for more human-centered leadership insights that shift how teams work together.

Most leaders don’t burn out because they care too much. They burn out because they solve too much. Early in my leadership career, I thought being helpful meant having answers ready. If someone brought me a problem, I fixed it. Fast. That worked for a while. Then something broke. My calendar filled up, decisions bottlenecked with me, and the team stopped thinking ahead. That was the conflict I had to face: solving problems for people feels productive, but it quietly weakens them. Here’s what changed everything. The 3-Step Leadership Shift That Builds Problem Solvers in 10 Minutes or Less 1. Pause before solving When someone comes to me with an issue, I don’t respond with advice. I respond with one question: “What have you already tried?” This signals trust and immediately raises the level of thinking. 2. Ask thinking questions, not leading ones Instead of “Have you thought about doing X?” I ask: “What options do you see?” “What’s the risk if nothing changes?” This keeps ownership where it belongs. 3. Set a clear expectation I end the conversation with: “Bring me two possible solutions next time, and we’ll choose together.” Within 30 days, the quality of decisions improves. Within 90 days, dependency drops. Why this works Research on adult learning consistently shows people retain more and perform better when they generate solutions themselves. Leaders who coach instead of rescue create stronger judgment, higher engagement, and future leaders, not followers. Who this is for If you lead a team of 5 to 500, feel stretched thin, and want people who think instead of wait, this approach is for you. If you want quick fixes without developing others, it won’t work. The desire You don’t need to be the smartest person in the room. You need to be the one who helps others think clearly. Strategic application this week Try this for the next five conversations: • No solutions in the first 5 minutes • Ask at least 3 open questions • End with one clear next step owned by them Call to action If this resonated, share it with a leader who feels stuck carrying too much. And if you want more on building leaders who don’t depend on you, follow along. This is the work that scales leadership without burning you out. #LeadershipGrowth #HighPerformanceTeams #CriticalThinkingSkills

My top takeaways from executive coach Rachel Lockett: 1. The biggest skill gap in new leaders is knowing when to coach vs. when to tell people what to do. When you constantly provide answers, you train your team to bring you every problem instead of building their own problem-solving skills. The people you hire are experts in their domain—ask curious questions to help them reach their own solutions, which makes them more motivated and capable. Save direct advice for urgent situations or when someone genuinely lacks the necessary skills. 2. Use these four questions to coach someone to figure out the answer or themselves: When someone brings you a problem, use GROW: Goal, Reality, Options, and Way forward. Ask about their desired goal (what does success look like?), their current reality (where are you stuck?), possible options for a path forward (what could you do next?), and a concrete way forward (what will you actually do next?). These questions help people discover solutions they already have the context to find. You don’t need to follow this exact order; just use whichever type fits the moment. 3. Use this four-step framework for difficult conversations: Observations, Feelings, Needs, Requests. Start with factual observations anyone could verify (not interpretations). Share your feelings without blame (I felt anxious, confused, disconnected—not “I feel like you. . .”). Name your underlying human needs (clarity, collaboration, connection). Make a small, achievable request the other person can actually fulfill. Stay on your side of the net—talk about your experience, not what you assume about them. This lets you be bold without triggering defensiveness. 4. In conflict, aim for mutual understanding, not proving you’re right. When you enter a difficult conversation trying to convince someone they’re wrong, they become defensive and armor up. Instead, focus on helping the other person understand your experience so they can empathize and see clearly what’s happening. This shift from convincing to connecting creates space for genuine dialogue where both people can be heard and find solutions together. 5. Burnout happens when you spend too much time outside your natural strengths, not just from working too hard. For two weeks, write down the five things each day that energized you most and the five that drained you most. Look for patterns. People burn out not just from working hard but from spending too much time doing things that deplete them—even if they’re good at those things. 6. Co-founder relationships need scheduled maintenance time, like marriages. Sixty-five percent of startups fail because of co-founder conflict, not business problems. Set up regular check-ins—weekly touch-bases, monthly lunches, quarterly in-person reviews—to ask: How is this working for you? Are we aligned on vision and strategy? What am I doing that frustrates you? What’s gone unsaid?

How do you help your team members handle challenges—without taking on their challenges for them? 

In working through a challenge and learning from it, your team is able to grow. Think about the last time a team member told you about a challenge they had…and then somehow it was turned over to you to manage, or you picked it up and solved it.

You might be so good at putting out fires you didn’t even realize it. 

I get it. I’m an action-oriented person. I love to solve problems. I love to support my team.

A leader’s job is to coach team members to solve their problems and handle difficult situations, not necessarily do it for them. 

I definitely learned this the hard way as a new leader.

First, I drowned in directly managing the team’s challenges plus my own. Then, I learned my efforts to help my team unintentionally showed them that only I can handle something, or to expect that I will.

I still take seriously my role as a leader to remove barriers and intervene, as appropriate—but I also remind my team members that I believe in their abilities.

Here are three steps to help your team members navigate their own challenges (with your support and guidance, of course). ASK QUESTIONS Ask your team member open-ended questions to help them think through the challenge. You might say, “What do you think the next step should be?” or “How should we handle this challenge?” You want to draw out their perspective and demonstrate that this is something you expect them to manage. DETERMINE YOUR ROLE When your team member starts talking about their challenge, try to determine if they need to vent or need you to do something. Because I have a tendency to jump into things, I have to catch myself to ask if the team member wants feedback, support, or action. If they want feedback or support,they’re showing they intend to manage through the challenge and would benefit from your guidance. If they request action, dig a little deeper before you take this on. Try to understand if they aren't confident in their choices and need reassurance, or if they're delegating the tough stuff to avoid managing it themselves. REINFORCE YOUR TEAM MEMBER’S STRENGTHS Acknowledge your team member’s challenge—and their ability to get through it. Reassure them that you believe they can handle it. You may remind them of how they successfully handled a difficult situation in the past. Most importantly, remember that the leader’s role is not to solve their team's problems—but to help their team become better problem solvers.

You're Not Coaching. You're Just Telling Nicely.😊 Many managers think they're coaching when they're actually just telling with better manners. "Don't you think it would be better if...?" isn't the hallmark of a great coach. You've probably already decided the answer and are now just gift-wrapping your directive in a question mark. Think of it like GPS vs. a driving instructor: When you're 𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨, you're the GPS. Turn left. Slow down. You know the route, and your job is to get them there efficiently. When you're 𝘤𝘰𝘢𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨, you're the driving instructor. You see them approaching a junction too fast, but instead of grabbing the wheel, you ask: "What do you notice about the road ahead?" You're building a driver who can navigate on their own. Both have their place. But most managers are stuck in GPS mode, wondering why their team can't drive without them. Here's what actually separates them: Telling keeps the problem on your desk. You solve it, hand over the solution. Next time they hit the same issue they're back at your desk. Coaching flips ownership. The problem stays with them. When someone discovers their own solution, instead of simply executing, they own it. Simple test: In your last "coaching conversation" who spoke more? If it was you, you were 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘣𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘺 telling. Real coaching is about asking questions that make them think harder than they've thought all week. Even if the silence that follows feels awkward. That's where insight happens. When to use each: 𝐓𝐞𝐥𝐥 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧: The building's on fire, someone's brand new, or there's a hard deadline. 𝐂𝐨𝐚𝐜𝐡 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧: You want the person to grow, there's time for reflection (even 10 minutes), or you're building capability for next time. The trap most managers fall into is that they don't trust the silence. They don't trust their team member to find the answer. So they jump in with "Have you thought about..." or "When I was in your position..." And just like that, you're the GPS again. Download the full "Coaching vs. Telling" cheat sheet and see where you really land! ___________ Hi, I'm Lucy, an ICF-certified coach and a consultant to L&D. High-functioning doesn't mean high capacity. I coach leaders to close the gap.

We've all had that moment. A team member walks in, unloads a problem, then waits for you to fix it. And if you're honest, it leaves you carrying the weight of everyone else's thinking. Why People Dump Problems: 👉🏻 Avoidance: Some people are uncomfortable with conflict, so they push it upwards. 👉🏻 Fear of being wrong: They don't want to risk criticism. 👉🏻 Learned behaviour: If you've always solved it before, they expect you to keep doing it. 👉🏻 Inner critic habits: Pleasers avoid rocking the boat, Controllers grab the reins, and Avoiders hope someone else will sort it. It's rarely laziness. It's fear, or a lack of confidence, or simply no one showing them it's safe to take risks and try. That's where you come in. Why It's a Problem for Leaders: ➡️ You become the bottleneck. ➡️ Your time gets swallowed by firefighting. ➡️ Your team never builds confidence or accountability. And over time, you start to feel resentful, because you're carrying what they should be learning to take. How to Shift the Pattern: This is where you move from fixer to leader. Next time someone brings you a problem, try: ✔️ Pause before answering ✔️ That instinct to jump in? That's your own inner critic at work. ✔️ Acknowledge, then ask  "I hear the issue. What options have you thought about?" ✔️ Encourage ownership -  "If you had to choose one approach, what would it be?" ✔️ Reframe accountability - It's not blame. It's trust. It's giving them the responsibility to step up. ✔️ Coach, don't carry -  Support their idea, refine it with them, and let them take it forward. The Mindset Shift for You - Instead of thinking "I need to solve this," Switch to: "I need to create the conditions where they solve it." That's leadership. A Question for You: Think about the last time your team came to you with a problem. Did you instinctively fix it? Or did you pause long enough to let them step up? Which habit are you building? #delegation #empowerment #managementskills #leadership

The difference between mediocre feedback and transformational coaching? Four simple questions that most leaders never think to ask. Albert Einstein said it best: "If I had an hour to solve a problem, I'd spend 55 minutes thinking about the right questions." As a former corporate trainer developing hundreds of sales representatives, I learned a humbling truth: my expertise meant nothing if I couldn't unlock theirs. The breakthrough came when I stopped giving answers and started asking better questions. The GROW model became my secret weapon. The GROW Model: A Framework for High-Impact Leadership G - GOALS: Establish the Destination "What would you like to achieve?" When people define their own objectives, they take ownership. Goals with personal investment become missions, not obligations. R - REALITY: Ground in Truth "Where are you now in relation to your goal?" Create psychological safety for honest self-assessment. You can't bridge a gap you haven't accurately measured. O - OPTIONS: Unlock Problem-Solving "What could you do to achieve your goals?" Let your people generate possibilities. When they create solutions, they commit to execution. When you create solutions for them, you create dependency. W - WILL: Convert Insight Into Action "What will you do?" This isn't just a question—it's a commitment mechanism. Always follow with "What support do you need?" Three Questions for Your Leadership Practice: 1. When was the last time you gave feedback that created true behavioral change?What made it different? 2. How often do you solve problems FOR your team versus WITH them? What would shift if you inverted that ratio? 3. If your legacy was defined by how many leaders you developed, how would you show up differently tomorrow? The most dangerous myth in leadership is that your job is to have all the answers. Your job is to ask the questions that help your people find theirs. People don't resist change. They resist being changed. The right questions don't push people toward performance. They pull out the performance that was already inside them. What's one question you could ask your team this week that would shift from directing to developing? P.S. - The employee or sales representative who was struggling? One coaching conversation using this framework completely turned things around. Same person. Different questions. The future of leadership is wiser! Need a speaker, moderator, or trainer for your next event? www.sidneyevansglobal.com #Leadership #EmotionalIntelligence #ExecutiveCoaching #GROWModel #PerformanceManagement #LeadershipDevelopment #CSuite #SalesLeadership #CoachingSkills

I’m ashamed to admit it, but I’ve been so very guilty of this one. A problem comes up, and before anyone has really defined the problem, I’m already tossing out fixes. Many leaders do the same. That’s because the skill that got many of us into leadership roles is problem solving. We’re rewarded for being quick with answers, confident in our recommendations, and decisive under pressure. The instinct is useful, but it also creates a trap. And the moment a suggested solution hits the table, people pile on. Options multiply. Debates fire up. Pretty soon you’ve got a full menu of alternatives, but very little clarity on whether any of them fit the situation. What usually gets skipped is the boring alignment on the fundamentals: • What’s the actual problem? • What would a good outcome look like? • What criteria must every solution satisfy? Without that frame, teams burn cycles solving the wrong thing. Or worse, they move forward under the illusion of agreement, only to realize later that success meant something different to each person. That’s when frustration, rework, and blame start creeping in. The discipline is slowing down to create the frame before anyone starts building solutions: ↳ Define the problem. Say out loud what’s broken, missing, or at risk. Be clear on the facts. Don’t assume it’s obvious. ↳ Set the objectives. Establish what matters most. Define what success looks like. These are the guardrails. ↳ Then explore options. With the problem and objectives clear, you can test solutions against a shared standard. This doesn’t need to make meetings longer. In fact, it often shortens them (and makes them less frustrating). Once objectives are explicit, weak ideas drop out on their own. Stronger ones rise quickly. The debate gets sharper, faster, and less personal because you’re judging against agreed criteria instead of opinions. The real challenge isn’t generating ideas. Most teams have more of those than they can possibly pursue. The challenge is resisting the urge to jump to them before you’ve earned the right. Have you seen this problem? What are your best techniques for overcoming it? #leadership #decisionmaking #execution #meetings

Get curious first. A CEO I work with, who’s leading a Series B AI company, came to a session frustrated. Her Head of Product couldn't get Marketing and Legal aligned. Deals were slowing down, launches were slipping, and the Head of Product kept coming to her with the same complaint: they're blocking us. She'd told him to fix it, repeatedly, but there was still a Product vs. the rest of the company stand-off. I got curious and asked her: What is making him feel stuck? What questions have you asked him? "I haven't really. I've mostly told him how I think he should fix it." That's the trap. When you always bring the answer, you train your team to bring you the problems. I invited her to get curious. The GROW model (a framework for asking powerful coaching questions) makes this practical: G — Goal. What does success look like for you here?  R — Reality. What have you tried? What effect has it had?  O — Options. What else could you do?  W — Way forward. What's your next step? These are just four question categories that you can use in any order. Spend 15 more minutes asking rather than telling in your next one-on-one and see what happens. My client tried it. Her Head of Product realized in that conversation he was trying to fix it on an island and needed to co-design a new system with his cross-functional counterparts. He came back the following week with a proposal. Not perfect, but progress that he was driving.  That's what you're going for — not just a better answer, but a more capable team. I'm sharing my coaching toolkit in the comments — when to coach vs. advise, active listening levels, and GROW questions you can use tomorrow. 👇