I want my leadership team to act like owners, but every time we have a crisis, they look to me to make the final call and then complain about my micromanagement. How do I break this cycle of dependency and force them to take true accountability?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

You have trained your leadership team to be dependent on you. Every time you step in to solve a problem, you signal that you do not trust them to handle it. To break this cycle, you must practice what Charles Green calls personal risk-taking and vulnerability, while holding them to the boundaries of the Accountability Chart.

The next time a crisis lands on your desk, resist the urge to save the day. Instead, push the problem back to the leader who owns that seat on the Accountability Chart. Ask them what they recommend and how they plan to solve it.

During your Level 10 Meetings™, enforce the IDS® process. Let the team identify, discuss, and solve the issues. Your role as the Visionary is to provide guidance, not to issue decrees.

If they make a mistake, do not punish them. If you react with anger, they will immediately retreat into status management and refuse to take risks again. Use failures as learning opportunities to build their capability.

By stepping back and allowing them to feel the weight of their decisions, you build their autonomy. They will only start acting like owners when they realize you are no longer willing to carry the operational burden for them.