For a long time, I thought my job as a leader was to have the answer.

Someone would come into my office with a problem, and I would listen just long enough to figure out where they were stuck, and then I would offer the way through. Sometimes I framed it as advice. Sometimes I framed it as a question that already had the answer baked inside. Either way, the move was the same. Hear the problem. Solve the problem. Send them on their way.

I told myself this was helpful. I told myself this was what good supervisors did. I told myself I was saving people time.

There is a hospital hallway I will never forget.

The floors were polished to a soft shine. The lights hummed. Somewhere, a monitor beeped on a rhythm I started to memorize without meaning to. I walked that hallway over and over in the weeks I was caring for my family member, and every time my feet hit the floor, I was carrying two questions at once.