The Fear of Getting It Wrong: Why Capable Teams Still Struggle to Act Independently
What if your most capable employee is not waiting for instructions because they do not know what to do but because they are afraid of what might happen if they get it wrong?
Hi, I’m George Eapen, founder of Next Dimension Story. Over 25+ years, I have had the privilege of working with organisations including P&G, PepsiCo and Vodafone, as well as technology companies, SMEs and leaders building their own businesses. Across those experiences, I have learned that leadership is rarely just about capability. It is about creating an environment where people feel confident enough to use that capability.
And this is where a fascinating leadership paradox appears.
You can give someone authority, responsibility and a clearly defined role, yet still find them looking towards you before making even a relatively small decision.
Why Do Capable Employees Still Hesitate?
The obvious explanation is a lack of confidence. But sometimes the deeper issue is fear of consequences.
Perhaps a previous manager criticised a decision. Perhaps an honest mistake was remembered long after the lesson had been learned. Perhaps expectations were unclear, but the employee was still held accountable for not anticipating them.
Eventually, a pattern develops: “It is safer to ask than to decide.”
That is learned dependence. The employee may be highly experienced. They may even know the answer. But asking the leader provides emotional protection. If the decision goes wrong, responsibility feels shared.
This is why genuine autonomy cannot simply be announced in a meeting. It has to be experienced repeatedly.
What Can We Learn From Research on Teams That Fear Getting It Wrong?
Harvard Business School professor Amy Edmondson’s research on psychological safety offers an important insight here. Her study of teams in a manufacturing company found that when people felt safer discussing mistakes, asking for help and speaking up, they were more able to learn and work effectively as a team.
The lesson for leaders is powerful: giving people authority is not enough if they fear the consequences of using it. When employees know they can exercise reasonable judgement, acknowledge mistakes and learn without being unnecessarily punished, autonomy becomes something they can actually practise, not simply a responsibility written into their job description.
Remember, Authority Is Not the Same as Autonomy :
Ask yourself:
Can my team make a reasonable decision without me?
If the answer is technically yes, but everyone still comes to you for reassurance, there may be a psychological gap between your organisational structure and your leadership culture.
This is where small decisions matter.
In my Executive Leadership Video Course, I focus on micro-decisions because confidence is built through practice. Small, thoughtful decisions become a training ground for larger ones. The course also explores emotional intelligence, effective communication, conflict resolution and empathetic leadership tools that help leaders respond to mistakes in ways that encourage learning rather than retreat.
Imagine the difference between a leader saying, “Why did you make that decision?” and one asking, “What did you see, what did you consider, and what would you do differently next time?”
Both address accountability. Only one builds judgement.
Your Communication May Be Creating the Fear
There is another subtle leadership responsibility: communicating the WHY.
Telling someone, “You have the authority to decide,” is incomplete. They also need to understand the intended outcome. When people understand why a decision matters, what success looks like and which boundaries cannot be crossed, they have context rather than merely permission.
That is why the Power of Storytelling and Communication course is relevant here. Its lessons on Start with the WHY and Speed of Trust are particularly powerful for leaders who want their communication to create alignment, influence and action rather than dependence.
Good communication should make your team more capable in your absence.
What Happens When Fear Enters Decision-Making?
Fear does not always look dramatic.
Sometimes it looks like over-analysis.
Sometimes it looks like another email asking for confirmation.
Sometimes it looks like postponing a decision that everyone knows needs to be made.
And sometimes it looks like a highly competent person saying, “I just wanted to check with you.”
This is where mental resilience and smart decision-making become important. My Smart Decision-Making programme uses a framework that connects the heart, mind, gut values, rational analysis and experience or instinct, before translating decisions into action. The approach is designed to help people move through uncertainty rather than waiting for perfect certainty.
For leaders and individuals working on mental resilience, the Mental Wellness Video Course also provides a pathway towards stronger emotional wellbeing and resilience. Because confident decision-making is not about never being afraid. It is about not allowing fear to make every decision for you.
Check The Real Test of Leadership
Here is the question I would leave every leader with:
If your team can only make good decisions when you are in the room, have you really created autonomy?
Trust is not demonstrated by stepping away and hoping people cope. It is demonstrated by creating clear guardrails, communicating the WHY, supporting reasonable judgement and allowing people to learn from mistakes. The goal is not to build a team that never gets anything wrong. It is to build a team that can think, decide, communicate, learn and move forward even when you are not there.
That is when leadership begins to scale.
Are You Ready to Build a Team That Can Decide With Confidence?
If you recognise this pattern in your team capable people who still hesitate, escalate small decisions or look upwards for reassurance. It may be time to look beyond processes and examine the human side of decision-making.
At Next Dimension Story, I help leaders develop the clarity, communication, emotional intelligence and resilience needed to create genuine autonomy.
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