The Hidden Cost of Being the Human Google in Your Team

Let’s talk about decision-making.

Or more specifically, that slippery, frustrating place leaders often find themselves: wanting a team that takes initiative, but somehow still ending up as the go-to for every tiny question, approval, or ambiguous email.

You know that moment when you’re technically on annual leave but your phone’s pinging with “quick ones” from your team?

It’s easy to think: “Well, they just need more training.” Or, “It’s quicker if I just do it.” Or, “They’ll mess it up if I don’t weigh in.”

But here’s what most leaders won’t admit - because I certainly didn’t at first:

It feels good to be needed.

Being the answer-machine? It’s validating. It makes you feel important. Useful. Central.

Until it doesn’t.

Until you’re drowning in decisions, questioning your life choices in the Officeworks watercolour paint aisle (yes, I’ve been there), and wondering how the hell you ended up being the bottleneck in a team you were trying to empower.

I’m someone with a PRINT 2:4 profile -which basically means “to be needed and appreciated” and “to find meaning and purpose in life” they are baked into my inner operating system. So trust me when I say: I get it.

But here’s the truth I’ve had to learn (and live):
Your team will only trust themselves as much as you trust them.

So, if you’re serious about building a culture of ownership -not just lip-service autonomy -here are some quiet but powerful moves to start with:

• Make expectations clearer than you think they need to be. Not just tasks, but principles. What does a good decision look like in your world? What’s the threshold for “use your judgement” versus “check in with me”?

• Praise the process, not just the win. If someone took initiative, even if the result wasn’t perfect? Celebrate that. That’s how courage compounds.

• Model what ‘getting it wrong’ looks like. If they’ve never seen you admit a misstep without spiralling, they’ll assume perfection is the only option.

Because ownership doesn’t mean never asking for help.
It means people feel safe making the call -and clear on when to loop you in.

This is the real work of leadership. And it’s work most of us weren’t trained for -especially if your own success has been built on being competent, reliable, the one who always knows what to do.

But being in charge and being in control are not the same thing.

And the difference? That’s where the real leadership shift lives.

If this resonates - if you’re somewhere between inspired and deeply tired - this is exactly what we work on inside my 1:1 Empower Program.

We start with the PRINT profiling tool to unpack your unconscious motivators, so the support you receive is tailored not just to what’s happening externally with your team - but what’s happening internally for you as a leader.

From there, we work together to shift your leadership style from reactive to rooted. So you can be less "human Google," more "trusted guide."

As we step into the new financial year, I’ve got a couple of spaces opening up. If you’d like to chat about what that could look like, just reach out with the word EMPOWER.

Here’s to creating teams that don’t just need us - they grow because of us.