Stepping in feels like leadership.

He's underwater. You know the answer. You've already made the mistake he's about to make and you can see the whole thing coming from across the room. So you take the wheel. You make the call, fix the file, cover the shortfall, smooth it over with the client. He's grateful. You're needed. Everybody wins.

Except he just learned something. He learned that the edge of his ability is exactly where you appear.

Struggle isn't a malfunction in the process. It is the process. A man builds judgment by making a decision he isn't sure about and then living inside the consequence long enough to feel it. Remove the consequence and you've removed the lesson with it. You didn't save him from failure. You saved him from the only thing that was going to make him capable.

And be honest about who the rescue is for. Watching a good man flounder is uncomfortable. Stepping in ends your discomfort immediately. That's a real motive, and it wears the costume of generosity, which is what makes it so hard to catch in yourself.

There's a version of this that isn't neglect. Stay close. Tell him the stakes before he starts. Make sure the thing can't destroy him. What you don't do is take the pen out of his hand.

The men you rescue never become the men who could have replaced you.