Leadership is solving problems. The day soldiers stop bringing you their problems is the day you have stopped leading them. They have either lost confidence that you can help or concluded you do not care. Either case is a failure of leadership.
- Colin Powell
If we think a measure of success as a leader is eliminating our people from taking up our day with their problems then I believe we have a misguided view of leadership success. I don’t think General Powell is talking about problems he has covered prior specifically as they relate to daily tasks. I believe the heart of what he is saying has to do with the person.
Leadership takes time and most of that time is filled with serving your team by helping them solve their problems. Problems with new challenges at work, how they relate to the other people on the team, personal problems with their marriage or children and even spiritual problems or attacks that many of us in ministry face.
I should rarely find my day void of my people walking through my door saying something like, “Do you have time to talk?” or “Could you help me with something?”. If I do, as General Powell states, “They have either lost confidence that I can help or concluded I do not care.” In either case, I have failed in my leadership.
You nailed it. My wife use to joke that it seemed like I was Santa based on the number of people standing at my door to talk to me. I’m big on empowering people but I also want them to always bring me their problems too.