Oct08
In too many organizations, people wait for permission to lead.
They wait to act. Wait to innovate. Wait to decide. And while they’re waiting, opportunities pass them by.
This is the hidden cost of permission-seeking—a habit that masquerades as diligence but actually erodes accountability. When individuals ask for approval at every step, they create an alibi for failure (“I was just doing what I was told”) and, worse, they sidestep ownership altogether. And when this behavior becomes systemic, you don’t just lose initiative—you lose your edge.
So, what’s the antidote?
Leaders must stop enabling a culture of deference and start building one of ownership. In this piece, we explore the psychology, culture, and neuroscience of permission-seeking—and how to replace it with empowered accountability.
At the heart of permission-seeking lies a mindset: an external locus of control. Individuals with this worldview believe outcomes are driven by fate, bosses, or bureaucracy—not their own actions. They’ve learned that it’s safer to defer than to decide.
Over time, that mindset calcifies into learned helplessness, a concept coined by psychologist Martin Seligman. When people feel their actions don’t matter, they stop trying. And they start waiting—often for permission that never comes.
But leaders can shift this mindset.
By inviting team members to make small, autonomous decisions—and recognizing them when they do—leaders rewire beliefs. Gradually, employees shift toward an internal locus of control. They start believing, “What I do makes a difference.” That belief is the foundation of accountability.
When people feel like owners of their work—not just doers—they behave differently. They lean in. They take risks. They stick with hard problems longer.
This is the power of psychological ownership, a term that describes the emotional investment people feel when they identify with their work. It’s the difference between “that’s the company’s issue” and “this is my responsibility.”
Ownership drives accountability. When people feel they own outcomes, they don’t need to be told what to do—and they don’t need to be managed around what went wrong. They just act. And learn. And improve.
To foster this, leaders must do more than delegate tasks. They must delegate decision rights—and trust their people to use them.
Let’s be clear: micromanagement is a permission-seeking engine. When leaders insist on approving every move, they teach their teams one thing—“You’re not trusted.”
At Netflix, they flipped that script. Leaders intentionally removed traditional approval steps—on expenses, travel, even vacation days. Employees are told: “Use your judgment. Do what’s in the best interest of the company.” No hand-holding. No endless sign-offs. Just accountability.
This culture works not because people are perfect, but because they’re trusted. Netflix hires people they believe in—and then gives them room to deliver. Mistakes are expected and treated as learning opportunities. The real failure would be not acting at all.
Empowerment without support, however, is a setup. Leaders must offer clear context, coaching, and confidence. That means defining goals and expectations, providing resources, and then stepping back.
Ownership only thrives when expectations are clear. If people don’t know what’s theirs to own, they won’t act. They’ll defer. They’ll stall.
A vague role or shifting priorities are perfect breeding grounds for “I thought someone else had it” excuses.
To counter this, leaders must clarify three things:
That last one is crucial. You can’t hold someone accountable for an outcome they have no power to influence. Aligning responsibility with decision-making authority eliminates the need to ask, “Do I have permission?”
Clarity removes the ambiguity that leads to paralysis.
Accountability without safety becomes fear. Safety without accountability becomes complacency.
Great leaders hold both.
Psychological safety, a term championed by Harvard professor Amy Edmondson, means creating an environment where people feel free to speak up, take risks, and admit mistakes—without fear of punishment.
When this kind of safety is paired with high standards, teams enter what Edmondson calls the Learning Zone: a space of high accountability and high innovation. People challenge each other. They stretch. They experiment.
In contrast, low safety cultures breed silence, delay, and false harmony. People defer decisions upward and ask for permission—not because they need it, but because they’re afraid of what happens if they get it wrong.
To build psychological safety, leaders must model vulnerability and curiosity. Share mistakes. Ask for feedback. Respond to failure with inquiry, not blame.
This doesn’t mean lowering the bar. It means making accountability safe—and desirable.
Modern brain science supports what great leaders intuitively know.
When people have control, their brains release dopamine—the reward chemical. Autonomy itself is motivating. When people are micromanaged, the opposite happens. The brain triggers a threat response. Stress hormones rise. Creativity and initiative drop.
The neuroscience of trust adds another layer. High-trust interactions (e.g., a leader delegating meaningful work) trigger oxytocin, the bonding hormone. People become more loyal, more engaged, more willing to own outcomes.
Over time, consistent empowerment literally rewires the brain for initiative.
WD-40 Company built a culture around personal accountability with their “Maniac Pledge”: “I am responsible for taking action, asking questions, getting answers, and making decisions. I won’t wait for someone to tell me.” The results? A 93% employee engagement rate—and an organization where permission-seeking is seen as odd, not safe.
Netflix built a high-performance culture by removing policies and replacing them with trust. Their leadership motto is: “Lead with context, not control.” That level of freedom demands judgment—but it also demands accountability. And it works.
Google, in its Project Aristotle study, found psychological safety was the #1 factor in high-performing teams. People felt free to act—and own—without fear. This kind of culture accelerated both speed and quality.
Even the U.S. Navy SEALs, known for hierarchy, embody the principle of decentralized ownership. “Every person a leader.” That’s extreme accountability.
The flip side is chilling. Nokia, once a dominant player, fell prey to a culture of fear and executive appeasement. Mid-level leaders were afraid to speak up or act boldly. Everyone waited for direction. Innovation withered. Accountability evaporated. The cost? Market irrelevance.
If you want to dismantle permission-seeking and foster accountability, here’s where to start:
Accountability is not a compliance tool. It’s not about catching people doing things wrong. It’s about cultivating a mindset where individuals own their impact—because they see themselves as leaders, not followers.
As leaders, our job is to stop making people ask for permission to succeed.
When we do, we unlock creativity, speed, trust, and resilience. We stop being the bottleneck—and start being the launchpad.
Ownership is contagious. It spreads when modeled well, supported structurally, and recognized publicly.
So here’s the question: What would your culture look like if no one needed permission to do the right thing?
By Gary Cohen
Keywords: Change Management, Coaching, Leadership
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