We talk a lot about accountability in leadership — and for good reason. Accountability creates clarity, alignment, and trust. After all, we can’t leave things undone for fear of accountability. At its best, accountability helps people understand what they own and how their work fits into something larger. At its worst, it’s catching people doing things wrong and punishing them for it.
But there’s a quieter problem leaders don’t always notice: accountability can slowly turn into control.
It usually doesn’t start that way. It starts with Good Intentions (the best construction material ever invented for the Highway to Hell).
I want to make sure something goes well. I care about the outcome. I want to support my team. So I check in a little more often. I ask for extra updates. I offer what I believe is “helpful” guidance along the way.
And somewhere in that process, the work stops being owned by the team — and starts being monitored by a task master.
This is where many leaders get tripped up. What they believe they’re doing is holding people accountable. What their team experiences is a lack of trust.
The line between accountability and control isn’t about structure or expectations — it’s about motivation and intentions. Accountability is anchored in clarity and trust. Control is usually anchored in discomfort. Anxiety about results. Fear of mistakes. A need for reassurance that things are being handled “the right way.”
That’s why leaders can ask for their team to take ownership and still struggle to step back — something I’ve written about before in Stop Asking for Ownership If You Won’t Let Go. When leaders stay overly involved after delegating, they unintentionally send a message: I gave you responsibility, but I don’t trust you with it.
Control also shows up when accountability becomes overly task-focused and loses its relational context. Ownership isn’t just about doing the work — it’s about understanding how decisions affect others. I explored this more deeply in Ownership Isn’t Just About Doing — It’s About Responsibility. When leaders fixate on how something is done instead of whether the broader responsibility is being honored, ownership, growth, learning, and problem-solving skills aren’t strengthened. They shrink.
One of the earliest warning signs that accountability is sliding into control is how we respond when something goes off track.
Do we get curious — or corrective?
Do we seek understanding — or immediately reassert authority?
As I shared in When People Break the Rules: Responding Without Eroding Trust, our reactions in these moments teach people whether learning is safe or whether compliance is the real goal.
Catching this early requires an uncomfortable but necessary question:
Is this intervention about the outcome — or about soothing my own anxiety?
When leaders can answer that honestly, and make it about the outcome, accountability regains its power. People feel trusted. Ownership sticks. And control no longer masquerades as good leadership.
Photo by Michał Jakubowski on Unsplash
