How You Trained Them to Depend on You
The leadership behaviors that create learned helplessness
Track 3
Development & Delegation
Session Overview
Dependency does not happen by accident. Leaders train it through consistent patterns of rescue, answer-giving, and problem-solving. Over time, teams learn that waiting is safer than thinking and that the leader will eventually step in. This session exposes the behaviors that create dependency and installs patterns that build autonomy.
The Leadership Pattern This Session Interrupts
Leaders rescue because it feels helpful. Under pressure, rescue is faster. Teams learn to wait because waiting works. Dependency becomes the system, and leaders become exhausted by problems that should have been solved without them.
The Behavior We Install
Recognize and interrupt the rescue patterns that train dependency.
Why This Behavior Matters Under Pressure
Pressure makes rescue feel necessary. But every rescue reinforces the pattern. Autonomy only develops when leaders stop providing what teams should produce themselves. Breaking the rescue cycle is uncomfortable but essential.
The Session Experience
Leaders map the rescue patterns they have installed. We identify the specific moments where dependency was trained. Leaders practice new responses that build autonomy instead of reinforcing dependence.
Session Outcomes
- Reduced dependency on leader intervention
- Teams that think before escalating
- Stronger autonomous problem-solving
- Leaders who guide without rescuing
- A culture that values ownership over waiting
GDD Anchors
Ready to Install Leadership That Holds?
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