Like many parents,

Like many parents, my wife and I provide a weekly allowance to our sons for completing their family responsibilities (I think "responsibilities" sounds better than "chores").  Occasionally, their money collects to the point where it begins to burn sizeable holes in their banks.  Yesterday my youngest son brought his money with him on a family shopping trip.  He chose to buy a .  It contained 355 pieces and was a fairly complex project for a 7 year-old.
When it was complete he was a very proud young man.  He emphatically stated, “That was awesome, Dad; and I did it all by myself.”  He had every right to be proud.  I was also very proud of him.  Then I realized that, technically, he hadn’t done it all by himself.  I was with him every step of the way helping him look for the correct pieces (especially hard as I’m mostly color blind), making sure he knew to orient the completed portion like the illustration in the instruction booklet, and coaching him on assembling some of the more difficult pieces.  Two of the more important aspects of this experience are that it let him grow his Lego™-building skills and increased his confidence.  Of course, our time together was exceptionally rewarding for us both—the major difference being that I realize this now and he won’t realize it until he’s much older.
This situation is a great parallel to teams and our role as scrum master, agile coach, and yes—even traditional project manager.  We do not want to be the sole source of thought for our teams.  As leaders, our primary goal with respect to teams should be to help them grow into self-sufficient, high-performing and capable groups of individuals.  Think back for a moment on your own experience leading teams.  Were there times when they came to you with a problem which you had the answer and you simply gave it to them?  If so, what did they learn from the experience?  My supposition is that they learned exactly what you taught them—to come to you if they want the correct answer.  Yes, it’s easier to simply provide it, but it’s also lazy and irresponsible.  We want our teams to succeed and our organizations to succeed.  Some view it as their job to provide answers; and by choosing to purposely not provide an answer, we’re not being efficient and are slowing down the work.  Perhaps it is—at least in the short term.  But I contend differently.

I believe that, as agile leaders (and leaders in general), we need to help others to think for themselves and grow their own problem-solving capability.  In today’s society, knowledge and information is ubiquitous; but, creative thought and problem-solving have never been ubiquitous.  One of the most valuable gifts we can give as leaders, parents, friends, or colleagues is the gift of thought.  Learn some skills yourself that will help others to help themselves, such asand don’t take the easy path by simply providing answers without challenging others to think. 
Modern organizations exist in an era of knowledge and creativity.  Leadership in this new reality is much more difficult than in the command-and-control Industrial era.  Leading invisibly will make you a memorable leader and individual.