Are you rescuing rather than leading?

“You always know what to do.”

I used to love hearing that.

In my early leadership days, I took pride in being the one people turned to when something was broken.

I was the fixer.
It felt good to be needed.

Helpful.
Capable.

But over time, I noticed some things I couldn’t ignore.

I was becoming the bottleneck.

My team had stopped bringing ideas.
I was exhausted.
I was doing all the fixing.
And lost sight of the work of developing.

So I started shifting my response.

Instead of jumping in, I’d ask:

“What have you tried so far?”
“What would you do if I weren’t here?”

Not to be unhelpful.
But to be more helpful.

Being the fixer feels good.

Until it doesn’t.

Until your team stops trying.
Until you’re stretched too thin.
Until you realize you’re not leading.

You’re rescuing.

Real leadership isn’t about having all the answers.
It’s about building people who trust their own.