When Managers Should Step Back from Team Decisions

Eyes On, Hands Off – A Leadership Shift That Changed the Way I Work! This wasn’t always my style. Early in my career, I was deeply involved - every sprint, every story, every decision. In tech and product teams, it’s tempting to jump in and “fix” things. I’ve been there - reviewing pull requests, tweaking backlog priorities, even rewriting logic. But over time, I realized: that doesn’t scale. If you want to grow your team, your impact, and your product, you have to evolve. Recently, I came across the phrase “Eyes On, Hands Off” and it perfectly captured this mindset shift. It means: • Staying informed (not absent) • Being available to unblock (not override) • Trusting the team to deliver • Stepping in only when absolutely necessary That last one is critical. Yes, teams will stumble. Systems might break. But as a leader, your role isn’t to jump in and fix it - it’s to guide, support, and help the team recover stronger. But let’s also be real - there are moments when you do need to be on the ground with your team: • When a team is underperforming and needs coaching, not just direction • When a new initiative is fragile and needs scaffolding • When customers or patients are being impacted • When there’s a breakdown in execution, trust, or clarity Being hands-on in those moments isn’t a step back — it’s leadership showing up with intent. For example — in one recent platform initiative, I worked with stakeholders to define the vision, align on priorities, and set clear ownership. Once that foundation was in place, I stepped back. The leads owned execution, drove the roadmap, and made real-time decisions. I stayed engaged through sprint reviews and retros — but never micromanaged. The result? Greater ownership. Faster decisions. And a team that felt trusted - not managed. Leadership isn’t about controlling outcomes. It’s about creating the space where great outcomes happen. #Leadership #TechLeadership #EyesOnHandsOff #EmpoweredTeams #ProductExecution #EngineeringExcellence #ScaleWithTrust #OwnershipCulture Baylor Genetics

Leadership Lessons from the Emergency Room On a recent shift, a patient asked what they should do. I told them my well-rehearsed line: “I can give you my recommendations, but you get to make the decision.” Was I trying to get out of being responsible for what happened next? Hardly. But the days of a physician being all-knowing, paternalistic are long gone.  I provide information, and possible courses of action, but ultimately the decision is up to the patient. The relationship to leadership is simple. Leaders who think they are all-knowing and others will blindly follow whatever they say without question are not leaders - they are managers who believe their title or position or the initials after their name imbue them with special powers. Looking at it differently: When are people more motivated and engaged: when they are told to do something - and how to do it - or when they decide to do something? Giving someone an assignment and telling them how to do it will get you a result. It probably won’t be the best possible result. You’re coming at it from your perspective, based on your thoughts and experiences. Give the team the desired outcome - a general direction and rough outline - and then get out of the way.  Be a resource and prepared to gently guide the process if the team does need direction, has questions, goes off track. When an obstacle arises where you do need to direct the plan or intervene and get the team back on track, the second to last thing you should do is tell the team what to do. (The last thing you should do is nothing - ignoring your team or letting them flounder will only instill hostility.) Instead, lead them with questions to help define the request and find the proper solutions to get to the desired outcome, without imposing your ideas onto them. Shoving your ideas into the mix will smother the creative process and stifle any innovations coming from the team. If you need to become more directly involved - the project is stalling due to lack of direction; team dynamics are starting to derail progress; the deadline is looming and the deliverable isn’t ready - you need to tread even more delicately. It will be tempting to say, “here is the plan to follow”, but then it becomes your plan, which may cause the team to stall further, animosity within the team or with you, and lead to an outcome which doesn’t get to the desired goal.. A better approach is to ask questions: — What are your plans to address this obstacle? — How will you approach the customers requirements? — How does your solution fit into the overall plan? — What have we done before we might be able to adapt to our current situation? And then SHUT UP. Let the team work towards the answers and solutions with minimal input from you. #leadershiplessons #leadership #ems #emergencymedicalservices #emergencymedicine

STEAL THIS LEADERSHIP FRAMEWORK 🆓 – Intervention Rates: A Data-Driven Approach to Measure Your Effectiveness 📈 Leadership isn’t a reward—it’s about being the right person to help your team succeed. One of the biggest challenges in leadership is managing your time effectively. If you’re spending all your time approving everything, fixing mistakes, or answering questions that your team should handle... You’re not leading—you’re stuck circling the day-to-day. So here’s a leadership framework I use Intervention Rates! This is a simple way to understand how my leadership impacts my team. As a nerd it also makes the "data driven" side of my brain very happy. 🤓 The Three Types of Leadership Interventions 1️⃣ Bottlenecks – When Everything Runs Through You Some decisions should sit with leadership—budgets, major strategy calls, high-level approvals. But if your team can’t move forward because you’re holding onto every little thing, they’re stuck waiting, and you’re buried in decisions. 📌 How to Help: ✔️ To grow and scale, let go of the small stuff. ✔️ Look for areas where decisions could be made without you and empower your team to take action. ✔️ Build systems that enable progress without constant check-ins. ✔️ Ensure your team has clarity and confidence to make decisions without hesitation. 2️⃣ Ownership – When Your Team Hesitates to Act This is when our managers or direct reports aren't calling the shots when they should! If team members aren’t taking ownership, it’s usually because: 🔹 They’re not sure they can make certain decisions. 🔹 They don’t feel empowered or supported. 🔹 They fear making the wrong choice. 📌 How to Help: ✔️ Clarify responsibilities—let them know what they own and where they don’t need your input. ✔️ Encourage independent decision-making—remind them that mistakes are part of growth. ✔️ Reinforce trust—let them know you believe in their ability to make good calls. 3️⃣ Feedback – When Standards Aren’t Being Met Your team wants to do great work—but sometimes, they need clearer direction. This happens when: 🔹 A decision was made incorrectly, and they need coaching. 🔹 The work isn’t up to standard, or expectations weren’t clear. 📌 How to Help: ✔️ Give proactive feedback—don’t wait until something is wrong to guide them. ✔️ Set clear expectations so your team knows what success looks like. ✔️ Reinforce high standards with support, not just criticism. Why This Matters Leadership isn’t about eliminating interventions—your team still needs you. But if your days are filled with endless approvals, corrections, and hand-holding, you won’t have time to focus on big-picture growth and strategy. By tracking your interventions and understanding where your team needs more support, clarity, or confidence, you can help them grow—and free yourself to lead. Teams thrive when their leaders empower and develop them. Not when they micromanage and blame. 😤

If you’re leading a large team or overseeing multiple products, you quickly realize that staying on top of every decision is a near-impossible task. As a data science leader, I’ve learned that trying to manage all the tactical decisions myself only led to one outcome: I became the bottleneck. I’ve made that mistake. During high-pressure moments or tight deadlines, there are times when you may need to lean in and take charge—but making that your standard approach will only lead to two things: you’ll slow the team down, and you’ll put yourself under tremendous stress. The key to avoiding this? Empower your team to make decisions. When I recognized that trying to control every detail was hurting performance, I made a shift. Instead of being involved in every tactical decision, I focused on identifying the right people with the skills and context to handle the day-to-day responsibilities. I laid out clear milestones and checkpoints, along with the criteria for success, but I gave them the autonomy to execute the work. This way, I was able to offer critical feedback at key moments without micromanaging the process. It created space for learning, even failure at times, but in a way that allowed the team to grow while staying on track. Empowering your team to take ownership not only improves performance, but also helps cultivate an environment of trust and accountability. And as a leader, you taking a step back frees up time to focus on the bigger picture. Have you experienced a moment when empowering your team made all the difference? I’d love to hear your thoughts. #LeadershipLessons #TeamEmpowerment #DataScienceLeadership #DecisionMaking #AILeadership

One of the biggest skills for a PE operator is knowing when to step in and when to step back. 🎯 And this skill is as much an art as it is a science. After working with loads of companies, I've observed that one of the differences between good and great operators often comes down to one critical skill: knowing exactly when to step in and when to step back. Here's my framework for making this crucial decision: ⚡️When to Get Involved: The clearest signals for active engagement are when you see: - Gaps between strategic vision and operational execution (talk > results) - Teams focused on day-to-day firefighting rather than systematic improvement. - Misalignment between department initiatives and company-wide goals (flawed execution) - Leadership teams struggling to articulate their value creation roadmap (or they aren't convicted) - Multiple competing priorities without clear selection criteria (confused execution - There's no "no" list) ⚡️When to Step Back: The best time to maintain distance is when you observe: - Clear metrics and accountability systems in place (clarity and accountability) - Front-line employees actively driving process improvements (empowered teams) - Strong bottom-up innovation programs with measurable results (belief and buy-in) - Leadership teams that effectively translate strategy into action (pragmatic visionaries) - Regular cross-functional collaboration solving real business problems (one team, one goal.) ★ Here's the Golden Rule: Your involvement should amplify, not replace, internal capability. Here's what this looks like in practice: When we stepped into a recent portfolio company, we found a talented team drowning in initiatives. Rather than dictating priorities, we facilitated high-impact and very well designed workshops that helped them develop their own organizational performance priorities and management practices. Once they had clarity (on what they would do and how they would work together), we stepped back and watched them execute brilliantly. Similarly, where we see robust programs driven by employee insights, our best move is often to simply ensure they have the resources and support to scale their successes. The key is to recognize that strategic involvement isn't about control – it's about enablement. The goal is to build sustainable capabilities that last, not teams that depend on us. Remember: The best operators make themselves progressively less necessary over time. If you're doing your job right, the company should run better without your daily involvement by the time you exit. What's been your experience with finding this balance? ~~~~ 👋🏻 I'm Russell > thanks for taking the time to read this. ★ I work with teams to measurably improve business performance. 🔔 Follow me or click the bell to read insights and stories (and opinions!)

The Leadership Tightrope: Empowerment vs. Intervention One of the toughest challenges as a leader is knowing when to step in and when to step back. 🔹 We want to empower our teams — giving them ownership, fostering critical thinking, and letting them drive solutions. 🔹 But when things aren’t going well, how long do we wait? Do we coach lightly and trust the process, or do we step in with a solution before it’s too late? 🔹 Time is always against us. Our competitors aren’t waiting. The market isn’t slowing down. A common trap I’ve seen (and fallen into myself) is stepping in too soon — not because the team truly needs help, but because discomfort with uncertainty makes intervention feel necessary. But the best teams learn by navigating uncertainty themselves. If we always provide the answers, they’ll never develop the muscle to solve hard problems independently. On the other hand, letting a team flounder for too long in the name of “learning” isn’t leadership — it’s neglect. The best leaders adjust their level of intervention based on trajectory, not just current performance. If a team is struggling but moving in the right direction, lighter coaching might be the best course. If they’re stalled or heading toward failure, stronger intervention is warranted — but even then, the best approach might not be giving the solution, but asking the right questions to help them uncover it themselves. As Andy Grove said, “A manager’s output is the output of the organization under their influence”. Sometimes, our biggest impact comes not from solving the problem, but from ensuring our teams build the confidence and capability to do so themselves. What strategies have you found effective for balancing empowerment and intervention? #Leadership #Management #DecisionMaking #GrowthMindset