“Let Me Know If You Need Anything” Is Not Leadership

I get why people say it. It sounds kind. Approachable. Low-pressure. You don’t want to micromanage. You don’t want to be “that boss.”

But it’s passive and over time it usually creates more work for everyone involved (especially you).

Vague support creates vague results.

Do you wonder why your team still feels unsure, keeps coming back with the same questions, or waits until things are already on fire to loop you in? Keep reading if that was a resounding yes. 👇🏼

Here’s Why This Doesn’t Work (Even Though It Sounds Nice)

“Let me know if you need anything” puts the burden in the wrong place. Instead of providing clarity, it quietly hands your team a guessing game.

Here’s what actually happens when leaders rely on this phrase:

• It shifts emotional labor back onto the employee.
  They have to decide if something is worth asking about, how to phrase it, and whether they’re going to look incompetent for bringing it up.

• It assumes they know what to ask for.
  Most people don’t. Especially newer team members or people stepping into expanded roles. If they knew what they needed, they probably wouldn’t need support in the first place.

• It signals availability, not direction.
  Roadmaps are more valuable to your team than open doors.

• It can actually feel unsupportive.
  When expectations aren’t spelled out, people second-guess themselves. They hesitate. They overthink. Or they stop asking altogether which can lead to things not getting done or getting done incorrectly. (Hello HIPAA nightmare.)

This is how you end up with a team that looks capable on paper but feels oddly stuck in practice.

What Real Leadership Can Sounds Like

Good leadership isn’t louder or more involved. You don’t want to overcorrect and become Big Brother. It’s about intentionality.

Instead of waiting for your team to come to you, strong leaders go first, and go with structure.

That looks like:

• Proactive check-ins with specific questions.
  Not “how’s it going?” but “What’s blocking you right now?” or “What decision feels unclear this week?” or “What do you need from me to move this forward?”

• Clear ownership of tasks and decisions.
  Everyone should know what they own, what they don’t, and where decisions live. If everything still defaults to you, clarity is missing.

• Written SOPs that reduce ambiguity.
  If the same questions keep coming up, it’s time to create a documented process.

Leadership is about making the path forward clear to everyone, not being available all the time.

Once you have all of those (or at least some) in place, you can start implementing policies like “Ask three, then me” which is basically just saying look in three different places/contacts to find the answer and if you still can’t figure it out on your own, come to me. It’s not about blowing off your team, it’s about empowering them to figure things out on their own. Yay independence!

How Clarity Becomes Part of Your Culture

Clarity doesn’t happen by accident. It’s built over time. And once it’s built, it actually reduces the amount of support you need to provide.

This often starts with visibility: a shared dashboard or central place where priorities, projects, timelines, and ownership live can eliminate an incredible amount of guesswork. People shouldn’t need to DM you to understand what’s happening.

It also means defining what success looks like for each role. If someone doesn’t know how their performance is being measured, they’ll either overwork themselves trying to cover every base or freeze because they don’t want to mess up. Neither outcome is good for anyone.

And finally, it requires communication norms. What’s urgent and what’s not. What belongs in Slack versus email. Who to go to for what. When it makes sense to escalate and when it doesn’t. When expectations are clear, your team doesn’t need constant reassurance. They can just do their jobs, and do them well.

Simple things make a big difference here:

• Decision logs so people can see what was decided and why.

• Consistent meeting notes so conversations don’t disappear into memory.

• Leadership check-in agendas that stay the same week to week so people know what to expect.

• An internal FAQ or SOP hub can replace dozens of repetitive questions and free up your time for actual leadership work instead of constant clarification.

• An org chart or communication flow chart for both internal communication and client communication.

At some point, “being supportive” turns into being the catch-all for everything that isn’t clearly defined. You don’t want or need that in your life.

When expectations are clear and systems are in place, your team doesn’t need constant access to you to function. They make decisions. They move work forward. They stop waiting for reassurance and start owning their roles. A lot of the time, they will rise above and beyond and will show you what they’re truly made of.

That’s when your job shifts from reacting to everything to actually leading the practice. Which, ironically, is when everyone needs you a whole lot less.

Ready to be needed less so you can grow your practice, write that book, prep for a Ted Talk? We got you. Schedule your free 30-minute consultation today so we can help support you.