Many attributes go into strong leadership, such as having a mission-driven mindset or being willing to mentor those you lead. Strong leadership is critical in getting the best out of your team, but it becomes even more critical when dealing with your distinct problem-solving needs.
Strong leadership and successful problem solving go hand in hand. Conversely, weak leadership could undermine an organization’s ability to address its most pressing challenges. By understanding how strong leadership influences your problem-solving capabilities, you can create a better working environment for your entire team and unlock the full potential of your organization.
Enables Easier Identification Of Problems And Opportunities
Strong leadership isn’t about your own ability to identify problems and opportunities (though this is certainly important as well). Rather, it is about creating an open environment where each member of your team feels comfortable sharing their input and insights.
A positive workplace culture should allow employees to feel safe when speaking up about their ideas. Strong leadership recognizes that great ideas can come from anywhere within the organization, allowing for faster identification of problems or potential opportunities.
This mindset is clearly demonstrated through Kaizen, a Japanese practice made famous by Toyota that seeks to implement small improvements by valuing contributions from individuals at all levels of the organization. Leadership that respects these inputs, no matter how small, while also offering guidance in their implementation, leads to faster problem solving and consistent, gradual improvement.
From optimizing internal processes to making changes that improve the company culture, strong leadership encourages everyone to speak up and make a difference.
Fosters A Collaborative, Empowering Approach
Another element contributing to better problem solving in the workplace occurs when a leader can empower their teams to collaborate—even across departments and levels of seniority.
One effective way to foster collaboration is by establishing a truly integrated process between engineering and technical teams. Kunal Doshi, an Emulation Engineer at Microsoft, recently shared his approach to shifting from individualized work to a more collaborative model. He emphasized the importance of making an effort to work closely with QA and validation teams to align on testing requirements, partnering with IT to manage device setups, and collaborating with application engineers to troubleshoot hardware issues. While this example comes from the software engineering field, the principle applies universally, regardless of how specialized a role may be. Cross-functional collaboration is key to resolving challenges efficiently and achieving successful outcomes.
Regardless of industry, collaborative environments led by strong leadership can be incredibly impactful—Deloitte research reveals that 73% of employees perform better in these settings, while 60% report improved innovation. Additionally, collaborative teams work 15% faster, highlighting the tangible benefits of such environments.
Leads To Informed Decisions
Finally, strong leadership enhances problem solving through its approach to making final decisions. Strong leadership leverages all resources at its disposal to carefully analyze information, insights, and potential solutions. It values the input of others within the organization as part of the decision-making process. Strong leaders also consider the full scope of a potential decision’s impact—on team members, customers, and the organization as a whole.
With all of these factors in mind, strong leaders still take accountability for making the final decision themselves. By carefully considering options and possible outcomes, they can move forward with greater confidence while ensuring that the final decision aligns with their values.
This is essential for leadership to avoid “decision distress”—a term research from Oracle uses to describe the 85% of leaders who regret, question, or feel guilt about a decision they’ve made. Strong leadership may not necessarily eliminate doubts, but leaders who create an open, collaborative environment that helps them consider all perspectives will be less likely to feel this way.
Ensuring Your Leadership Enables Problem Solving
The quality of leadership within an organization will directly impact its problem-solving abilities. As leaders create a collaborative environment that empowers team members and encourages open communication, they can achieve more innovative solutions and have greater confidence in their own decisions while also increasing the engagement and cohesion of their team.
Be sure to regularly evaluate your leadership practices—and seek the input of those you lead—to ensure you are building the right environment for your problem-solving needs.
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