Anton Guinea
Entrepreneur, Speaker, bestselling author, and founder of The Guinea Group of Companies. For over 15 years, Anton has helped leaders move their teams to become psychologically safe, physically safe and overall better versions of themselves.
Are you spending so much time fixing your supervisors’ problems that you’ve accidentally become their supervisor?
I see this happen often. A supervisor has a difficult conversation, decision or team issue, and the manager steps in to fix it.
At first, it feels helpful. But if you keep doing it, something else happens: your supervisors become dependent on you.
Stop solving every problem
One of the biggest shifts I encourage managers to make is to stop being so quick to give the answer.
When a supervisor brings you a problem, ask:
“What do you think we should do?”
“What options have you considered?”
“What would you do if I wasn’t available?”
These questions make the supervisor think, rather than wait for you to solve the problem.
That is where coaching frontline leaders rather than simply giving instructions becomes so important.
Give them real responsibility
You cannot develop independent frontline leaders if you keep taking responsibility away from them.
Be clear about what they own. What decisions can they make? Which conversations are they responsible for? When should they escalate an issue?
A WorkSafe Queensland case study found that supervisor training was more likely to have lasting benefits when supervisors had enough authority and accountability to apply what they had learned.
This case study on supervisors and risk management is particularly relevant for organisations where frontline decisions can have serious consequences.
You cannot train someone to lead and then refuse to let them lead.
Coach them through the hard stuff
Good development doesn’t mean protecting supervisors from every difficult situation.
Let them have the conversation. Let them make the decision. Stay close enough to support them, but give them enough space to own the outcome.
Afterwards, ask:
“What went well?”
“What would you do differently?”
“What did you learn?”
This is how developing high-performing supervisors becomes part of everyday leadership rather than something that only happens in a training room.
The Fair Work Ombudsman also highlights clear expectations, feedback, training, coaching and mentoring as part of managing and improving workplace performance. Their guidance on managing underperformance provides useful support for this approach.
Your supervisors should make your job easier
If you’re constantly answering your supervisors’ questions, making their decisions and stepping into their conversations, ask yourself:
“Why does this still need me?”
Sometimes they genuinely need your involvement. But sometimes they need development, not rescue.
When supervisors become more capable, your team gets better leadership closer to the work. They can make decisions, manage issues and support their people without everything travelling up the chain.
Stop carrying them
The goal isn’t to make your supervisors need you more. It’s to develop supervisors who can lead well without you.
That requires clear expectations, real responsibility, regular coaching and accountability.
If your organisation needs help developing stronger frontline leaders, you book me to work with your organisation or contact me to start a conversation about your leadership challenges.
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UPGRADE your Mindset
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