Are you the reason your team isn't moving?

Question 02

A team member completes a task differently than you would have. The outcome is acceptable but not how you'd have done it. What do you do?

This scenario tests how you respond to process deviation — one of the clearest indicators of control-based management.

Question 03

How often do team members come to you for decisions that, in theory, they should be able to make on their own?

Frequent upward escalation is a reliable signal of unclear role boundaries or implicit discouragement of independent judgment.

Question 04

When you delegate a task, how clearly do you communicate the expected outcome, quality standard, and decision boundaries?

Research by Yukl (2013) identifies expectation clarity as the single strongest predictor of successful delegation outcomes.

Question 05

Have you taken back work you already delegated — either by doing it yourself or by adding so much direction it was effectively yours again?

"Re-delegation reversal" is a documented pattern in managers with high need for control, often triggered by time pressure or anxiety about quality.

Question 06

If you were unexpectedly unavailable for a week, how would your team handle decisions in your absence?

A team's ability to operate during a manager's absence is a direct measure of how well ownership has been transferred, not just assigned.

Question 07

When a team member fails at something you delegated, what is your honest first instinct?

Attribution patterns after failure — whether we look inward or outward — are a key predictor of whether managers build self-sufficient teams or dependent ones.