Try 3 Then Me

This is the Minute Business Riff (MBR). Quick takes. Big swings. Leadership riffs you can read in less time than it takes to scroll LinkedIn aimlessly.

One minute. One idea. That’s it.

Today’s word count: 283

It took me 1 min 01s to read this.

A new department lead I worked with had a classic first-year problem:

She was too helpful.

Every question, every blocker, every “hey quick thing” - went straight to her.

She answered all of them. Fast. Accurately. With context. Like a machine.

It felt like good leadership. She was enabling the team, right?

Wrong.

Three months in, her team was thriving… and she was underwater.

No thinking time. No strategy. Just a human ticketing system.

I asked her what her calendar looked like.

She sighed. “My team needs help.”

So we made one small change.

She introduced a new rule at the next team meeting: “Try 3 then me.”

Before you come to me with a question, try three other things first:

1. Ask a peer.

2. Search past docs, Slack, or notes.

3. Find someone in the company that specializes in the problem

Then - and only then - come to me.

At first, the team looked unsure. Some thought she was being cold. Others panicked a little.

But within two weeks, the entire vibe changed.

People started leaning on each other. Asking better questions. Solving things on their own.

Instead of saying “What should I do?”

They started showing up with: “I tried X, Y, Z - here’s where I’m still stuck.”

The quality of conversations went up. Her stress went down.

She went from bottleneck to multiplier.

Because great leaders don’t answer every question.

They teach people how to answer their own.

Tactical Takeaway:

If your team treats you like Google, it’s time for a reset.

Introduce “Try 3 Then Me.”

Make resourcefulness the norm.

Make thinking the default.

And take your calendar - and brain - back

Think this was a banger? Think I’m full of it?

Either way, hit reply and drop some truth bombs.

I read every email 😁

Great leaders are made in minutes. Not meetings.