A manager said something to me recently that stuck.
“It feels like I’m the only one thinking.”
Every decision came to them. Every next step. It felt like literally nothing would get done without them telling someone to do it.
The team was capable. Smart people. Strong hires. But nothing seemed to move unless they were involved.
If you’ve taken on a new team recently, this might feel familiar. At first, it looks like a motivation problem. It’s easy to start wondering if people are disengaged, inexperienced, or just not stepping up the way they should.
But that’s usually not what’s going on.
When a team hesitates, waits, and pushes decisions up the chain, it is often not a lack of motivation but a lack of understanding.
People are not holding back because they don’t care. They’re holding back because they don’t feel confident about what to do.
In my experience, that lack of clarity tends to show up in three specific places.
First, the team doesn’t fully understand the outcome they’re working toward. Not just what’s on their plate this week, but the bigger picture. The strategic objective. What success actually looks like over time. They need to understand your team’s objectives and how that fits into the company’s objectives.
I’ll give you an embarrassing example from my own career. I was in a one-on-one with a solid performer, talking through a recent company strategy update. In the middle of the conversation, they looked at me and said, “Since when did we become a security company?”
That stopped me cold. This wasn’t a new direction. This had been a major strategic focus for a while. How could someone on my team be so disconnected? I knew it was my fault. I hadn’t made sure every person on my team understood the big, strategic picture.
Second, even when the outcome is clear, the path often isn’t. The team doesn’t fully understand the plan to get there. If the team doesn’t understand the plan, of course they’re going to wait for you to tell them what to do.
Third, people don’t know what they’re actually empowered to decide. This one shows up a lot right now. In environments where there’s high pressure, uncertainty, and the risk of layoffs, people become more cautious. Even strong performers will hold back if they’re not sure where the boundaries are.
So decisions get escalated that shouldn’t need to. It just feels safer to let you, the boss, make all the decisions and take all the risk.
When you put these three together, the behavior makes sense. It’s not that your team lacks initiative. It’s that they’re operating in an environment where the expectations aren’t clear enough to act with confidence.
If you want your team to step up, you have to fix the environment they’re operating in.
The first place to start is making the outcome unmistakably clear. Your team should be able to answer a simple question without hesitation: what are we trying to achieve, and why does it matter? If they can’t, slow down and rebuild that shared understanding.
The second step is to have the team build the plans to get to the strategic objectives. The team, or someone from the team, builds the plan and brings it to you for review and approval. You are not looking for a 100% perfect plan. 80% is a go. The intent is to ensure the team has a plan that they fully understand and in which they are vested in overcoming obstacles to achieve success.
The third step is defining decision boundaries. Let the team know you expect them to make most of the day-to-day decisions. Explain to them where the limits are, where they need to bring you in for approval. You are not making decisions for the team, you are teaching them how and when to make decisions on their own.
Your team is likely not holding back because of a lack of motivation, they are holding back because of uncertainty and a lack of understanding.
The solution is in your hands. Empower the team!
Build a shared vision of success with them.
Let THEM build the plans to achieve your objectives.
Give them clear boundaries so they can confidently make most of the day to day decisions.
Come back and let me know how this goes for you!
Best,
Jeff
P.S. If you’re a tech industry manager who has recently taken on a new team, I built something for you. It’s a 5-day email course called: The 5 Mistakes Tech Managers Make When Taking on New Teams.
