A great leader also knows when to dive deep. There are times when important matters are mentioned only briefly. But a leader recognizes such moments and digs deeper to understand the details. The leader does not need to know everything from top to bottom. Often, the problems are due to simple logical inconsistencies, informational disconnects, or insufficient planning or questioning by the owners. However, expanding your domain knowledge at different levels of your product domain certainly helps a lot.
A leader knows that s/he needs to learn more about it as there might be problems or opportunities in the details that others missed in their discussions and plans.
I have caught many critical problems and opportunities in my management career by doing this repeatedly. Sometimes my questions bored or intimidated others even though I made absolutely sure I was not questioning people’s personalities but the decisions made. But it was and will be one of my core responsibilities to the business and the teams I was serving.
Creating safe zones for your teams is essential, and questioning for details can be a little intimidating for some team members. But sustainable and productive safe zones cannot be built on ignoring things for a happier environment. It could lead to complacency and, more importantly, loss of many opportunities regarding problems to solve or enhancements to make. Leaders should build safe zones on trust, open-mindedness, and attentive listening.
Contrary to what our intuition says about the consequences of diving deep in terms of how people might react, intelligent people will consult you more as you uncover issues because they are after the truth, not proving their egos. Of course, there will always be some resistance among your teams when you deep dive. But your responsibility is to ensure that your teams are on the right track while teaching crucial skills.