What if the biggest thing holding your team back isn’t lack of talent or effort, but your need to be in control?

Most leaders don’t crave control because they’re insecure or power-hungry. They crave it because they care and feel accountable for outcomes.

None of us likes surprises. We’ve learned, often the hard way, that mistakes are costly. So we review one more draft. Sit in one more meeting. Ask to be copied “just in case.”

In our minds, none of it feels like control. It feels like responsibility. And yet, over time, it creates the very problems we’re trying to avoid.

Control Feels Safe, Trust Feels Risky

Control promises predictability. Trust introduces uncertainty. Control says, “I’ll make sure this gets done right.” Trust says, “I’ll make sure the right conditions are in place.”

In today’s operating environment, with smaller teams, faster cycles, and AI changing how work gets done, control doesn’t scale. It’s a constraint that creates friction. Leaders can’t see, understand, or decide everything. The work is too complex and too distributed. Trust isn’t optional anymore.

Why Control Quietly Slows Everything Down

The hidden cost of control is lost speed, diluted ownership, and delayed learning. The impact? Teams wait instead of acting, and people optimize for approval over outcomes.

Ironically, the more leaders try to control execution, the less control they have. They become reactive, overloaded, and distant from the real work. It’s trust that flips the equation.

What Trust Looks Like In Practice

Trust is often mistaken for abdication, but it isn’t. Trust is clarity plus ownership. It’s clear intent, boundaries, and measures of success, combined with real autonomy within those constraints.

• A product leader sets the outcome and the guardrails, then lets the team decide how to achieve it.
• A COO aligns on priorities and trade-offs, then steps back from daily execution.
• A CEO controls strategic direction and values, not every decision.

In each case, the leader isn’t letting go of responsibility. They’re letting go of interference and the potential to be a bottleneck.

Three Questions That Reveal Where You May Be Stuck

1. Where am I still serving as the safety net? If you’re always there to catch mistakes, how will your team ever learn to balance?
2. What decisions still require my approval that don’t need it? Approval is often a legacy habit, likely established before your arrival, and not a necessity.
3. Do people come to me for clarity or permission? One builds capability, and the other builds dependence.

These questions aren’t about judgment. They’re about awareness.

Your Next Move

This week, pick one area where you can replace control with trust:

• Name the intent – be explicit about what matters and why.
• Set guardrails – define constraints, not instructions.
• Give ownership – let someone else decide, and live and learn with the outcome.
• Hold the review, not the reins – inspect results, not process.

You’ll feel discomfort. That’s normal, and it’s a sign you’re doing the right work. Trust always feels riskier than control, until you see the results.

A Closing Thought

Control feels like leadership in the moment. Trust feels like leadership over time.

Leaders don’t lose control when they trust their teams. They gain capacity, speed, and resilience.

So what if the next level of your leadership isn’t holding on tighter—but letting go with intention?

Let’s unlock better—together.