The secret to shared responsibility

What is the hardest thing for leaders to let go of:

The DEFINITION power, or

The DECISION power?

For 12 years I have told leaders:

• Not to be the only ones who ask questions, and
• Not to be the only ones who provide answers

I’ve come to realize that most leaders are willing to EITHER share their definition power OR share their decision power.

But to empower shared responsibility for the problems companies are facing, leaders must be willing to do both. That's why I designed Qvest to help leaders:

1. Communicate why a problem is everyone’s problem
2. Anchor the problem in each employee’s everyday work
3. Empower local dialogue on potential solutions
4. Create shared responsibility for the solution

It's my experience that a lot of leaders put a lot of efforts into 1. And they say they want 4. But what about 2 and 3?

Is it your experience that leaders would rather share the responsibility for defining the problem than the responsibility for deciding how to solve it?

Or is it the other way around?