Stop Babysitting, Start Leading - A Leadership Mindset Shift

Ever felt like you’re "babysitting" your team instead of leading them? You’re not alone. Many leaders hit a point of frustration, but that feeling is a signal—an opportunity for reflection and growth. 

In this episode, we explore why some leaders feel this way, what it says about their leadership approach, and, most importantly, how to shift from micromanaging to mentoring. Learn actionable steps to empower your team, foster accountability, and redefine your leadership mindset. Because great leadership isn’t about control—it’s about trust, coaching, and clarity.

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Transcript

Welcome back to Relationships At Work – Your guide to building workplace connections and avoiding leadership blindspots..  I’m your host Russel Lolacher

I’m a communications and leadership nerd with a couple of decades of experience and a heap of curiosity on how we can make the workplace better. If you’re a leader trying to understand and improve your impact on work culture and the employee experience, you’re in the right place.

This mini-episode is a quick and valuable bit of information to help your mindset for the week ahead. 

Inspired by our R@W Note Newsletter, I’m passing on to you… 

Our Teams Don’t Need Babysitting, They Need Leadership

"I feel like I have to babysit them."

This is an actual quote I've heard from an actual someone about their actual team. The one they are responsible for and accountable to. And this was what they thought of them. That they had to coddle them. "Babysit" them. 

This is also something I've heard over the years from those in leadership responsible roles. More than once.

Leaders aren’t perfect. We get frustrated. We have other things going on. We want things to go easy. We’re human too. But if we come to a point in our leadership journey where we think this of our team, I would hope we look at this as a reflection point. And we need those moments of self-reflection. It’s an opportunity to better understand a few things:

• Why is this the way we characterize the relationship we have with our team?
• Why is this our opinion of people we're in charge of supporting, growing and motivating?
• What has happened or hasn't happened that's caused us to put our hands in the air and think of them as children?
• Where have we failed them? And what can we do about it?

If these babysitting thoughts that have come across our mind... or thoughts that aren't too far off what we're feeling these days, there are things we can do to get back on track.

First... Shift the Focus to Coaching and Mentoring

As a leader, we can adopt a coaching and mentoring approach and avoid that push to micromanagement. Think of ourselves as guides who help team members develop their skills and confidence, fostering a sense of autonomy in our teams. This helps us feel like we are facilitating growth rather than managing every detail.

• How to Implement: Take training on coaching techniques, such as asking open-ended questions, active listening, and providing constructive feedback. Set up regular one-on-one sessions focused on what team members have to do for career development rather than just check box task completion. 

Second... Empower Teams Through Clear Delegation

Delegate effectively by clearly defining roles, responsibilities, and expectations. Expectations are really the key there. Job descriptions have the first two, but it’s good leadership that defines expectations. When team members understand what is expected of them, they are more likely to take ownership of their tasks, reducing the need for us to need to "babysit" aka intervene.

• How to Implement: Create delegation templates or checklists to help ourselves clarify tasks, set deadlines, and establish accountability measures. Then follow up with checkins that ensure we’re all on the same page. Trust our team’s abilities and resist the urge to step in unless absolutely necessary.

Third... Foster a Culture of Accountability.

Accountability is such a key part of a good leadership culture. For us and our teams. Work to make it a shared value. When team members hold themselves and each other accountable for their work, we can step back and focus on strategic priorities rather than day-to-day task management. We just have to hold ourselves accountable for their success too. 

• Think about implementing regular progress updates, peer reviews, or team-based goal setting. Recognize and reward accountability within the team, which reinforces positive behaviour without requiring constant oversight.

We as leaders are human. We get frustrated. We can get to the end of our rope when it comes to conflict or things not going as easily as we'd like. But this is a litmus test. This is where we demonstrate our leadership, not hide from it.

So the next time that feeling of needing to "babysit" hits us, consider what steps we can take and opportunities we can embrace to better support that team we're responsible for.