I resisted getting a company phone for a long time.
At companies where I worked early in my career, managers were expected to be on call all the time. There was always another emergency that supposedly needed immediate attention.
Looking back, I don’t think the real problem was the number of emergencies. It was that leadership hadn’t built an organization that could solve problems without them. Everything flowed through a handful of managers because they hadn’t delegated decision-making or trained people to handle issues on their own.
It’s easier to jump in and solve the problem yourself than it is to teach someone else how to solve it. In the moment, answering the question feels efficient. Training someone feels slow.
I finally got a company phone after umpteen years, and I can already feel the pull.
In the evenings, the phone sits on my desk, and I get the urge to clear out a few emails..
But every time I answer one of those emails, I’m teaching people something.
I’m teaching them that I’m available after hours.
I’m teaching them that problems should come to me.
And, without meaning to, I’m teaching them not to solve those problems themselves.
Good leaders don’t build organizations that depend on them being available 24/7. They build organizations that can make good decisions without them.
Don’t let a company phone trick you into becoming the solution to every problem.