I can’t tell you where I was the first time I heard someone say “don’t just bring me problems, bring me solutions”, but I’m glad I was given that guidance early in my career. Sometimes we make it too easy for people to tell us everything that they don’t like or don’t agree with and they have the expectation that we will snap our fingers and fix it. I like to listen to their concerns and then counter with a “so what do you think we should do about it” or “what would you have done differently”? That will either spark a great conversation or they will have to do some work and come back to see you with an answer. Either way, you just helped develop a person into a better leader and/or problem solver. Being a good leader doesn’t mean you fix/solve every problem, you are there to support and give your teams what they need to resolve the problems they’ve identified with their solutions…try it out!
Deliberate Development 