A co-worker comes to you with a problem – what do you do? Most people would normally feel compelled to ask questions or give advice to help the other person out. In the Leader Effectiveness Training Workshop we call such reactions “Communication Roadblocks” because they actually can stop the other person from fully communicating their problem and digging down to get to the root of it. For example, giving advice to someone who owns the problem can not only make them feel like they are not capable of solving their own problem, they can even be steered in the wrong direction to a solution that doesn’t fit their needs. In leadership training, the focus should be on Active Listening to the other person who owns a problem, so they can fully vent their frustrations, figure out what it is that is really bothering them, and ideally find a solution on their own.