Effective leadership requires more than just answering questions to guide others’ decision-making and actions. Leaders who are comfortable with uncertainty and are willing to listen to and learn from others are better able to navigate complex challenges and make sound decisions than those who feel it is their duty to identify and understand every unknown.
When you are able to admit to your team members that you don’t have all the answers, you empower them to work collaboratively to generate innovative solutions. Being open in this way can be difficult for leaders who feel pressure to always be the smartest person in the room. Below, 15 Forbes Coaches Council members share their best tips for getting more comfortable with not knowing everything as a leader and leaning more on your team for helpful ideas and insights.
Members pictured from left to right.
Photos courtesy of the individual members.1. Don’t Give Advice
Ask questions that generate creativity and possibilities. Begin your questions with the words “what,” “how” or “who.” Questions with these words tend to stimulate creativity and generate possibilities for the listener. But creativity and new possibilities only emerge when we move beyond what we know and explore what could be. - Robert Turner, Executive Coach Turner
2. Ask Others For Help When Necessary
The only way to eventually get the answers you need is to admit that you don’t have them yet. The most successful leaders I know are the ones who were willing to say, “I don’t know as much about that as I need to—can you help?” After all, your ego isn’t fooling anyone, and your vulnerability will go a long way toward earning trust. - Scott Brown, Stone House Coaching & Consulting
3. Empower And Support Others In Their Exploration
Being a great leader is not about always having the answer, but about bringing curiosity and openness in exploring possibilities and supporting others in their exploration. Even if it is a simple question with a simple answer, you can lead well by encouraging, empowering and guiding others toward finding their answer and helping them learn by doing it in their own way. - Samantha Murphy, Dr. Dori Gatter & Associates
4. Ask Questions That Spur Fruitful Conversations
A very wise mentor once told me that the way to get invited to the best meetings was not to be the smartest person in a room full of smart people; instead, be the person who asks a question that turns the conversation in a new and fruitful direction. Being the smartest in a room full of smarties is like shouting into the wind and leads to a culture of competition versus contribution. - Emily Grandinetta, Grandinetta Group, LLC
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5. Don’t Jump Right To Solutions
Not having the answer allows you to get curious about the here-and-now facts of a situation, rather than your assumption about it. Often, leaders will jump right to solutions without stepping back to understand the problem from all points of view, so any response or answer given might be to a question that the employee isn’t even asking. - Stacy Campesi, OKA (Otto Kroeger Associates)
6. Develop A Collaborative Mindset
Developing a collaborative mindset is the start of being comfortable with not having the answer. This means practicing asking questions before answering them, asking your team for input before making decisions and developing active listening skills. Start to think like a researcher and get curious about what other people are thinking before jumping to your own conclusions. - Felice Tilin, GroupWorksConsulting LLC
7. Practice Asking Powerful Questions
The power of perspective is not necessarily about having answers, but having the ability to ask powerful questions. Einstein is credited with saying, “If I had an hour to solve a problem, I’d spend 55 minutes thinking about the problem and five minutes thinking about solutions.” - Deborah Goldstein, DRIVEN Professionals
8. Help Team Members Get Recognized For Finding Answers
A leader is not accountable for giving answers to all questions in all situations. You are more accountable for helping others find answers with your leadership interventions. Be proud about facing situations where you don’t have the answer, because it is an opportunity to help someone else on the team find the answer and get recognized. The team will enjoy your leadership when you provide that space. - Anilkumar G, ACTIONRICH Business Solutions India Pvt Ltd.
9. Suspend Your Judgment And Embrace Curiosity
A leader leading change needs to embrace uncertainty and trust the process. If you are worried about not having the answer, then your ego is at play, wanting to control and be right, and this risks disengaging others who could contribute to a solution. Catch yourself in these moments, suspend your judgment and embrace curiosity instead. Curiosity opens up possibilities, while judgment and needing to be right shuts it down. - Mary Gregory, Mary Gregory Ltd
10. Ask Questions To Pull The Best Out Of Your Employees
When a leader always has the answer, their followers cover their ears. Instead of having the answer, open their ears with a question, such as, “How would you answer your own question?” or, “What would the most brilliant part of you say to do, right now?” Pull the best out of your followers by asking them a question to show them you believe in them. They already know the right answer. Teach them to fish. - Dr. Jayne Gardner
11. Own Who You Are And Who You Are Not
Not always having the answer, as a leader, is all about confidence. Genuine, authentic leaders show up confident in their own abilities and fully aware of their strengths and weaknesses. My advice would be this: Right now, own who you are and who you are not. We aren’t fooling anyone when we try to be more. Your authenticity and confidence will ultimately earn trust—and that’s priceless! - Beth Fitzgerald, Fitzgerald Coaching and Consulting
12. Practice Active Listening, Not Active Answering
When we listen to understand, rather than listening to respond or give directives, it helps us build trust with the team and empowers us as leaders to make better decisions. It’s okay to not have all the answers right away, as long as we make effective listening a part of our decision-making process. - Sonia Maslovskaya, SoniaMPower
13. Show Vulnerability In Not Having Answers To Build Trust
Often, we believe that we must know everything because we are the leader, whereas, in reality, no one expects us to have all of the answers. In the right context, showing vulnerability in not having the answer builds trust with your people. You can still use the opportunity to help by brainstorming solutions to find the answer. - Susan Hobson, Elite High Performance Inc.
14. Lean Into Ambiguity
Leaning into ambiguity is a large part of being a great leader. The way to navigate not having the answer is to feel comfortable sharing that you don’t know, but that you are happy to circle back with an answer. Without thinking of this as a negative, leaders need to think of these moments as opportunities to be more vulnerable and human. - Nishika de Rosairo, HumanQ Inc
15. Get Over Yourself
It’s not the job of the leader to have every answer; it’s the job of the leader to facilitate success. That means facilitating getting the best people on the team. Then, facilitating their success by creating a functional, psychologically safe culture where team members can tell the truth without fear of recrimination, collaborate, take chances and innovate. - Jennifer Zaslow, Clear Path Executive Coaching
