I once worked for a leader who read a lot. The team was convinced this leader spent every weekend reading. On Monday morning we would be waiting to hear the new idea we were going to be doing.

The problem is not that this leader read so much or shared his knowledge with us. The problem is that he’d come in most Monday mornings and tell us how we were going to change our work.

Ask what they think

Does it make sense for a leader to tell the team how to do their job?

I assume leaders have good intentions when they tell their people how to do their job. They want the team to succeed and create better results. Unfortunately, though, when leaders tell the team how to do the job, it’s usually more of a hindrance.

What do leaders do with new found knowledge?

Start by sharing the knowledge you’re holding. Present it in a way that you read or heard about this idea. Don’t impose it as the next greatest idea. Only something you’ve learned and thought they might want to consider the idea.

Then, put on your best coach hat and ask how this idea might change what’s happening on the team. If it seems like the idea has merit, ask the team what experiment they might try to test the idea out.

It’s incredible how far you can get when you ask what they think.

You’ve got this.