Nobody Feels Responsible Without Autonomy

Hey there, reader. If you’ve ever felt like you’re carrying the weight of the world on your shoulders but your hands are tied behind your back, this one’s for you. I’ve been in the trenches of tech and leadership long enough to see patterns that break people and companies over and over.

Today, I want to talk about something that’s burned me personally: how autonomy (or authority, if you prefer that word) and responsibility are like two sides of the same coin. Flip one without the other, and you end up with a mess.

If you’re not free to make the calls you believe in, you can’t possibly own the outcomes. It’s that simple, and yet, it’s ignored in so many organizations. Let me unpack this, share a bit of my own experience, and hopefully spark some debate.

The Core Truth: No Freedom, No Ownership

Think about it like this: imagine you’re captaining a ship, but every time you try to steer away from the iceberg, the admiral on shore radios in and says, “Nah, stay the course.”

When you inevitably hit the ice, who’s getting blamed? You, the captain. That’s the reality for too many “leaders” out there. Responsibility without autonomy isn’t leadership. It’s a scapegoat setup.

In my experience, when people are given accountability but not the reins to drive change, they disengage. Why pour your soul into something when your best ideas get vetoed by someone who isn’t even in the room? I’ve felt this sting myself early in my career. After six months of pushing boulders uphill, I stopped feeling responsible. The failures weren’t mine. They were the system’s.

And honestly, that detachment hurt, as it made me question if I was even cut out for leadership. I felt anger more than once during that time, feeling like a fraud for not delivering what I knew was possible.

This isn’t just anecdotal fluff. Studies on employee engagement show that when people have autonomy, their sense of ownership skyrockets, leading to better performance and innovation. Strip it away, and you get apathy, burnout, or quiet quitting. It’s human nature. We thrive when we can shape our destiny.

The Misnomer of Modern “Management”

Far too often, companies hire folks into “leadership” or “management” roles, but what they really want are process administrators or glorified babysitters.

You know the type: the manager who’s stuck enforcing outdated policies, coaching underperformers without the tools to actually fix systemic issues, or just keeping the peace like a camp counselor.

There’s a place for coaching and admin work. Hell, it’s vital in support roles. But it has zero to do with true leadership.

Real management and leadership? That’s about reshaping how the work works. It’s tinkering with processes, reallocating resources, experimenting with new approaches, and yes, sometimes rocking the boat to sail faster.

This stuff can transform a team or department. I’ve seen it firsthand: In one gig, I was given carte blanche to overhaul our CI/CD pipeline. We cut deployment times by 70%, and the team’s morale? Through the roof because they felt the wins were ours. But without that authority, it’d have been another failed initiative gathering dust.

The Classic Trap: Hiring a Hero, Then Clipping Their Wings

Picture this scenario. It’s played out in countless companies, including ones I’ve consulted for. a business is tanking in some key area: ROI is trash, performance is sluggish, innovation is DOA. They decide, “let’s bring in a rockstar leader to fix it!” The candidate aces the interview, shares visionary ideas, gets the offer. They join, ramp up, buzzing with energy and good intentions.

Fast-forward two years: crickets. Nothing’s changed.

The new manager had killer ideas. Restructuring teams, adopting new tech, shifting priorities. But they got shot down. The folks above? Not confident in the vision, disagreed on fundamentals, couldn’t see the short-term ROI, or just didn’t want to “rock the boat.”

Classic lines: “Let’s wait and see,” or “We need more data.” Meanwhile, sticking to the broken playbook keeps yielding the same lousy results.

Why does this happen? Sometimes, companies have internalized their mediocrity as the norm. Suggesting real improvement feels like a threat to the egos of those who’ve long since given up.

Other times, the blame game kicks in. “We hired you to fix this, and it’s still broken. Your fault!” Never mind that the manager’s hands were tied. This scapegoating is soul-crushing. It erodes trust and turns talented people cynical.

And the saddest part? Often, it’s the manager themselves who bails.

Short stints on a resume aren’t ideal. They raise eyebrows in future interviews. But faking productivity while being forced into irrelevant busywork? That’s a recipe for misery. Pretending to lead when you’re just a puppet sucks the life out of you.

I’ve lost count of friends who’ve quit for this exact reason, some quietly slipping away, others venting publicly on LinkedIn or Twitter (this is not a case of venting publicly on LinkedIn :-).

A Real Story: The Tech Lead’s Frustration

Let me get even more personal here. Just recently, a tech lead (not someone I work with directly) slid into my LinkedIn DMs. She’s sharp, experienced, and passionate about her craft. But she confessed she’s not allowed to tackle the performance issues in her team. We’re talking quality issues that are costing the company real money and morale.

When she’s tried to step up without formal authority. Suggesting process tweaks, mentoring juniors on better practices. The results have been mixed at best, downright poor at worst. Pushback from above, resistance from peers, and no backup. She feels stuck, responsible for the team’s output but powerless to influence it meaningfully.

Hearing her story hit home because I’ve been there. It’s hard to admit, but I’ve second-guessed my own decisions in similar spots, wondering if I was the problem. Was I too aggressive? Not persuasive enough? But no. It’s the system. And stories like hers remind me why we need to call this out.

Breaking the Cycle: What Can We Do?

So, how do we fix this? If you’re in a position to hire or lead, start by granting real authority alongside responsibility. Define clear boundaries, but within them, let people fly. Trust their expertise. That’s why you hired them! For those feeling trapped: advocate for yourself early. In interviews, ask pointed questions like, “what’s the biggest change a recent hire made here?” If the answer is vague or outright nonexistent, run.

And to the companies out there: embrace discomfort. True growth comes from empowering people to shake things up. It might bruise some egos, but the alternative is stagnation.

I’ve learned this the hard way, through some failures and a few wins. If you’re nodding along, share your story in the comments. Let’s build a community that demands better. Because at the end of the day, autonomy isn’t a perk. It’s the fuel for real responsibility and remarkable results. What’s your take?