{"id":8291,"date":"2025-01-27T21:33:47","date_gmt":"2025-01-28T03:33:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/scottcochrane.com\/?p=8291"},"modified":"2025-01-27T21:33:49","modified_gmt":"2025-01-28T03:33:49","slug":"how-to-be-a-problem-solving-leader-who-gets-results","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/scottcochrane.com\/index.php\/2025\/01\/27\/how-to-be-a-problem-solving-leader-who-gets-results\/","title":{"rendered":"How To Be a Problem-Solving Leader Who Gets Results"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\n

This article is part of my Global Leadership series; Insights from more than a decade of leadership training around the world\u2026<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Solving complex problems lies at the heart of what it means to be an effective leader. But effective leadership involves more than\u00a0finding<\/em>\u00a0solutions. It\u2019s about\u00a0being<\/em>\u00a0the solution.<\/span><\/h2>\n

Being the solution to a problem means going beyond delegation. It means that you are committing to personally owning all that needs to happen to ensure a successful outcome. And for this to happen, it means getting out from behind your desk. It means moving beyond the board room or the lectern. It means positioning yourself in the heart of the action.<\/p>\n

Where you position yourself will determine your effectiveness in problem-solving.<\/p>\n

While visiting leaders in Nagpur, India,<\/strong>\u00a0I had asked one of the local officials to describe his greatest challenge. He explained that he was unable to wire funds to his son who was studying in university overseas. The situation was becoming desperate.<\/p>\n

When I learned that his son was studying in a city in Canada near to where I would soon be visiting, I recognized that this gave me the opportunity not to simply help him\u00a0find<\/em>\u00a0a solution; I could possibly\u00a0be<\/em>\u00a0the solution.<\/p>\n

By changing an upcoming travel itinerary and schedule, I believed I could find a way to personally deliver the funds to this man\u2019s son.<\/p>\n

It was only in actually being physically present that the opportunity to personally solve this problem became possible.\u00a0<\/p>\n

As a leader, positioning yourself to be a problem-solver requires understanding 3 key principles\u2026\u00a0<\/p>\n

1. Spending too much time alone in your office limits your effectiveness<\/h2>\n

Leaders who stay at their desks, or who allow their teams to handle all of the work on the front lines will have a limited perspective on the dynamics of a problem. Be where the action is.<\/p>\n

2. Make \u2018yes\u2019 your default setting (with discernment)<\/h2>\n

Once you\u2019re positioned on the front-lines, you\u2019ll come face-to-face with complex problems in a real-time setting. You can\u2019t, and shouldn\u2019t, try to solve every problem yourself. Discernment is required. But start with a \u201cYes\u201d mindset. Approach each challenge by asking, \u201cWhat would it take to figure this out?\u201d<\/p>\n

3. Embrace inconvenience<\/h2>\n

Authentic problem-solving means getting your hands dirty. In means messing up your routine. It means being willing to be inconvenienced. As you move through the front-lines of where the real action is, be prepared to have your schedule interrupted and your rhythms messed up. This is how real problems are solved.<\/p>\n

In leadership, there is an important time and place to be alone, or huddled away with your team. This is where planning, dreaming and strategy can best happen. But as an authentic leader, you need to be in the trenches too. You need to be where the action is.<\/p>\n

Because that\u2019s where the real thrill of authentic problem-solving is happening.<\/p>\n

Don\u2019t miss it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This article is part of my Global Leadership series; Insights from more than a decade of leadership training around the world\u2026 Solving complex problems lies at the heart of what it means to be an effective leader. But effective leadership involves more than\u00a0finding\u00a0solutions. It\u2019s about\u00a0being\u00a0the solution. Being the solution to a problem means going beyond…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":7778,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_bbp_topic_count":0,"_bbp_reply_count":0,"_bbp_total_topic_count":0,"_bbp_total_reply_count":0,"_bbp_voice_count":0,"_bbp_anonymous_reply_count":0,"_bbp_topic_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_reply_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_forum_subforum_count":0,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,738,7,1041,1020,580],"tags":[984,1056,122],"class_list":["post-8291","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-action","category-effectiveness-2","category-leadership","category-listening","category-problems","category-results-2","tag-leadership","tag-problem-solving","tag-results"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/scottcochrane.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8291","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/scottcochrane.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/scottcochrane.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scottcochrane.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scottcochrane.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8291"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/scottcochrane.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8291\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8293,"href":"https:\/\/scottcochrane.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8291\/revisions\/8293"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scottcochrane.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7778"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/scottcochrane.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8291"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scottcochrane.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8291"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scottcochrane.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8291"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}