The Answer Isn’t Always Yours to Give
- Ralph Cochrane
- Apr 21
- 1 min read
Why great leaders listen longer than feels comfortable
I was in a conversation recently with a leader who was trying to help a team member work through a challenge. He asked a question… and then answered it himself. It was quick. Efficient. Well-intentioned. And it completely shut down the thinking process.
Psychologist Carl Rogers found that when people feel truly heard, they’re far more likely to arrive at their own insights. In fact, clients who experienced deep listening showed 82% greater improvement in self-awareness than those who were given direct advice.
That’s worth paying attention to.
Because in most workplaces, especially in technical environments, we’re trained to solve problems. Quickly. Decisively. Correctly. But not every moment calls for an answer. Sometimes, it calls for space. The kind of space where someone can think out loud. Test an idea. Work through something without being redirected too soon.
That’s not passive leadership. It’s disciplined listening. It takes restraint to not jump in. It takes patience to let the silence sit. And it takes trust to believe the other person is capable of getting there.But when you do, something shifts. People don’t just follow direction — they build understanding. And that’s what sticks.
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