It’s Tuesday morning. 9:30 a.m.
Thomas is already on his second coffee, bouncing between Slack pings and back-to-back Zoom calls, another day navigating the ownership hap in leadership without even knowing it.
On paper, he’s a middle manager in a fast-growing company responsible for two client teams, one product rollout, and “keeping the wheels turning.”
But when a decision lands on his desk, the kind that could move a project forward or stall it, Thomas hesitates.
“Let me check with Sarah,” he says, referring to the owner.
Again.
The truth? Thomas doesn’t really own his role.
He executes. He escalates. He coordinates.
But he doesn’t drive.
And Sarah, the business owner, is feeling it.
Every missed deadline. Every vague answer. Every “I’ll follow up.”
It all loops back to her.
This isn’t a time management issue. It’s a structural one.
Thomas isn’t underperforming. He’s under-empowered.
“Why is no one else taking full ownership?”
It’s a question I hear all the time — especially from leaders like Sarah, who are still the centre of everything, despite having a leadership team in place.
This article is about the ownership gap in leadership. How to recognise it, what causes it, and what to shift if your managers look like leaders on paper but act like assistants in practice.
1. When Everything Circles Back to You
Here’s how the ownership gap usually looks:
- Projects slow unless you’re driving them
- Deadlines get missed unless you’re chasing them
- Teams ask for clarity you thought was already given
On paper, you have a leadership team. But in reality? You have a dependency structure.
Ownership isn’t about job titles. It’s about outcomes.
If you’re still the engine of delivery, you’re not scaling. You’re carrying.
2. Ambiguity Is the Enemy of Accountability
Many teams operate in the grey zone of “shared” responsibility.
Sounds collaborative. But what it often leads to is:
- Task confusion
- Risk avoidance
- A culture of escalation rather than resolution
Without clear outcomes tied to clear people, ownership becomes optional.
Ask yourself:
- Does every manager know what they own?
- Can your team describe the success metric for their function?
- Do you hear “I didn’t know that was mine” more than once a week?
Clarity creates confidence. And confidence fuels ownership.
3. Building Ownership Without Burning Out
You can’t force ownership gap in leadership by pushing harder. You have to create the conditions for it:
- Define clear roles, outcomes, and supporting processes: Don’t just write job descriptions — design the structure your leaders can succeed within. Create clear processes and assign ownership of each stage to specific roles. When leaders see how their role fits into the system, they gain clarity on what outcomes they’re responsible for — and how to deliver them confidently.
- Decentralise authority: Let managers make decisions and own the results (even when they stumble)
- Use coaching to shift mindset: Ownership is personal. It requires confidence, clarity, and self-leadership. Our coaching programmes support leaders in making this shift — from managing tasks to owning outcomes.
This isn’t about letting go. It’s about handing over, with structure.
Great leaders don’t just lead work. They lead ownership.
4. What You Can Do This Quarter
If the ownership gap is costing you speed, energy, or sanity — start here:
- Pick one team or function that still relies too much on you
- Define what outcomes they should own (not tasks)
- Assign ownership explicitly — and coach through the discomfort
Our bespoke leadership workshops are designed to help teams map ownership clearly, build accountability frameworks, and embed leadership behaviours that scale.
Ownership isn’t about being told what to do. It’s about knowing what matters — and owning what happens next.
But ownership isn’t about ticking off tasks. It’s about delivering outcomes. That distinction is critical — and often misunderstood.
If you’re still the centre of everything, your team isn’t underperforming. They’re under-structured.
To address the ownership gap in leadership, start by building trust. That begins with you.
Trust that your people can figure things out. Then give them the clarity they need to own the results — not just the to-do list.
If you’re wondering whether we can help you build trust, clarity, and ownership across your team — let’s have a conversation.
