Are Your Best Managers Doing Too Much?

Developing Employee Capability Creates Capacity to Lead

Your most capable managers are often the people others turn to when something needs to get done. They answer questions, solve problems, make decisions, and step in when the work gets difficult. That makes them incredibly valuable, but it can also leave them doing too much of the work their employees could learn to handle themselves.

For managers, developing others isn't just about helping employees grow. It's also how they build a more capable team and create the capacity to focus on the work that requires their leadership.

When Being Helpful Becomes the Default

Managers don't usually set out to become the answer to every question. They're trying to keep work moving, and stepping in can feel like the fastest solution when a deadline is approaching, a decision needs to be made, or an employee encounters a problem the manager already knows how to solve.

Over time, that helpfulness can create a pattern. Employees bring problems to the manager rather than working through them, decisions move upward, and the manager's workload continues to grow. The skills and experience that make someone a valuable manager can also make it harder to step back and let others build those same capabilities.

Manager Capacity Isn't Only About Time Management

When managers are overloaded, it's natural to look at calendars, priorities, and productivity. But capacity isn't only about how much work a manager has. It's also about who is doing the work.

If managers routinely solve problems their employees could learn to solve, make decisions others could make, or take back work when it becomes difficult, better time management will only go so far. Building manager capacity also means building capability across the team so employees have the judgment, skills, and confidence to take greater ownership.

Coaching Can Be Slower Before It Becomes Faster

Giving someone an answer is usually quicker than helping them arrive at one themselves, especially when a manager already knows what to do. The tradeoff is that solving today's problem for an employee does little to prepare that employee to handle a similar problem tomorrow.

Development coaching takes a longer view. Instead of automatically providing the solution, managers can ask what the employee sees, what they've already tried, what options they're considering, and what they recommend. Over time, this shifts more of the thinking to the employee and builds the problem-solving and decision-making skills they need to work more independently.

Delegation Can Be Development

Delegation is more than a way to move work off a manager's plate. It can also be a practical way to build employee capability through the work that already needs to be done.

Rather than assigning work based only on who can complete it most efficiently today, managers can consider who would benefit from the experience. Giving someone ownership of a project, the opportunity to lead a client conversation, responsibility for a decision, or exposure to cross-functional work allows employees to practice new skills in meaningful situations. Managers can then coach around the experience without having to do the work themselves.

Developing Others Requires Managers to Let Go

One of the harder shifts in management is handing off work when the manager knows they could complete it faster or differently. Developing others requires allowing employees to approach the work in their own way while remaining clear about the expected outcome.

That doesn't mean lowering expectations or delegating without support. Managers still clarify outcomes, establish appropriate boundaries, provide feedback, and step in when needed. But taking work back whenever the path becomes uncertain limits the opportunities employees have to strengthen their judgment and become ready for greater responsibility.

Stronger Employees Give Managers More Capacity to Lead

Developing employees isn't about managers becoming less involved. It's about focusing their involvement where it adds the most value.

As employees strengthen their judgment, solve more problems, and take greater ownership, managers gain capacity to think ahead, coach others, work across teams, anticipate challenges, and focus on priorities that require their broader perspective. At the same time, employees gain experience and build capabilities that allow them to contribute at a higher level.

Developing direct reports doesn't have to be one more responsibility competing for a manager's time. Done well, it creates a more capable team and gives managers greater capacity to lead.

Help Managers Develop More Capable Teams

Managers don't always need another productivity tool. Sometimes they need stronger skills for coaching and developing the people around them.

Our Manage OnPoint! Developing Your Direct Reports public workshop helps managers distinguish between coaching for performance and coaching for development and use a practical, strengths-based approach to help employees take greater ownership of their growth.

Join us virtually on Tuesday, October 27, from 1:00–3:00 p.m. ET.

Special Offer: Register one participant and bring a second from your organization at no additional cost.

Learn More and Register »