Let Them Make the Decision

Don’t Give Them the Answer — Post 5 of the Growing Leaders Series

One of the most valuable lessons I carried out of the Army was that responsibility and authority have to go hand in hand.

Serving in special operations aviation taught me the importance of preparation, accountability, and trusting the people beside you. We trained to demanding standards because the mission required everyone to know their responsibilities and be prepared to act when the situation demanded it.

There wasn't always time to wait for someone else to provide the answer.

That experience shaped how I approached leadership throughout my professional career. But after decades of managing people, operations, and finances, I've also learned something about myself.

It's easier to talk about empowerment than it is to give up control.

When you're ultimately accountable for the outcome, there's a natural temptation to stay involved in every important decision.

I've caught myself doing exactly that.

Someone brings me a problem, explains the options, evaluates the risks, and offers a thoughtful recommendation. We talk it through, and I agree with their approach.

Then I make the decision.

Problem solved.

But did I really empower anyone?

If they did the thinking, developed the recommendation, and demonstrated good judgment, why did I need to be the one who made the decision?

That's a question I've been challenging myself with lately.

Trust Requires Letting Go

Throughout my career, I've worked with talented people who are more than capable of making sound decisions. Yet organizations have a way of creating layers of approval that can unintentionally undermine that capability.

Some approvals are necessary. Financial controls, safety, legal obligations, and organizational accountability require clear authority.

But others exist because that's how we've always done things.

And sometimes, if we're willing to admit it, because we like being involved.

There's a difference between staying informed and staying in control.

One supports accountability. The other can quietly undermine confidence and ownership.

I'm trying to become more intentional about recognizing when someone has earned the opportunity to make the decision themselves.

When they've demonstrated sound thinking and understand the boundaries of their authority, sometimes the best thing I can say is:

"You've thought this through. It's your decision. Go make it."

That doesn't mean I'm abandoning my responsibility.

It means I'm giving someone the opportunity to exercise theirs.

General George S. Patton is widely credited with saying:

"Don't tell people how to do things, tell them what to do and let them surprise you with their results."

The principle resonates with me.

Give people a clear objective. Establish expectations and boundaries. Provide the resources they need.

Then trust them to accomplish the mission.

That also means accepting that their approach may look different from mine.

Their process may not be the one I would have chosen. Their solution might surprise me. It might even be better.

Different doesn't mean wrong.

And if we're serious about developing leaders, we have to be willing to let them lead differently than we would.

Accountability Without Micromanagement

There's another important lesson from my military experience.

Trust doesn't eliminate accountability.

It requires it.

People need to understand the objective, the limits of their authority, and when a situation requires additional guidance.

That's not micromanagement. That's responsible leadership.

What we shouldn't do is give someone ownership of a responsibility and then require our approval for every decision necessary to accomplish it.

Responsibility without authority isn't empowerment. It's frustration.

Luke 16:10 reminds us:

"Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much."

Trust grows through experience. We give people opportunities to demonstrate judgment, take responsibility, and build confidence. As they grow, so should the decisions they're trusted to make.

But there's another part of empowerment that leaders sometimes overlook.

We have to stand behind the people we've empowered.

If a decision doesn't produce the outcome we hoped for, our first instinct shouldn't be to take back control.

We should ask whether the decision was reasonable given the information available, what was learned, and what might be done differently next time.

Otherwise, we teach people that they're empowered only as long as everything goes perfectly.

That's not trust.

That's conditional permission.

A Question for Leaders

Think about the decisions you made this past week.

How many truly required your authority or experience?

And how many could have been made by someone on your team?

I've been asking myself those questions more often because I don't want to build a team that's simply good at bringing me recommendations.

I want to develop people who have the confidence, judgment, and authority to act.

That requires more than asking good questions or providing guidance.

Eventually, we have to let go.

If you want people to take ownership, you have to give them something they actually own.

And when they make the decision, give them the opportunity to succeed—and the confidence that you will support them.

Don't just solve the problem. Grow the person.

Go Be The Reason.