How Strong Leaders Build Accountability: Empowerment vs. “Leave Me Alone”

In EOS®, we teach leaders that LMA® stands for Leadership, Management, and Accountability.

But there’s a joke we sometimes share with leadership teams when we’re working through that tool: LMA doesn't mean “Leave Me Alone.”

Everyone laughs, but the truth is, that’s exactly what happens sometimes.

I see this dynamic across a lot of leadership teams. And in my EOS practice focused on remote teams, it tends to show up even more clearly.

When people on the same team work in different locations, leaders have to be especially intentional about communication. In EOS, we call that "keeping the circles connected.” Because when you're working remotely, you’re not bumping into each other in the hallway, and you don’t overhear conversations that provide more context to the work. There are fewer natural moments to clarify expectations.

Communication has to be intentional or people will fill in the blanks themselves. If expectations aren’t clear, capable people do what capable people always do: They make assumptions, move forward, and solve the problem as they understand it. The issue is that their understanding may not match yours. That’s where teams lose Traction®.

And that’s why leaders have to understand the difference between empowerment and being left alone.

How Empowerment Turns into Misalignment

I see this play out often when teams are working on Rocks. During quarterly planning, the leadership team identifies an important priority for the next 90 days. Someone raises their hand and commits to owning that Rock. The team spends a couple of minutes aligning on what success should look like. Then the owner gets to work.

Week after week during Rock review in the Level 10 Meeting®, the Rock owner confidently reports: “On track.”

Then halfway through the quarter, the leader asks a few more questions, and suddenly something doesn’t add up.

“Wait… how can this be on track?”

In the leader’s mind, there were several key outcomes that should have happened by now. Certain milestones, collaboration points with other teammates, and simply put, more signs the Rock was progressing in the right direction.

But the problem is those expectations were never fully clarified after the Rock was set.

The team member has been working hard. They’ve been making decisions and solving problems based on what they believe success looks like. From their perspective, the Rock is on track. But from the leader’s perspective, the work has gone in the wrong direction.

The leader wonders how the work got so far off track. The team member feels like their work is suddenly being second-guessed. Both people walk away frustrated. 

Often, the real breakdown isn’t a lack of effort or capability. It’s that the team hasn’t stayed closely connected as the work unfolded.

The real issue is clarity.

Before your next Level 10 Meeting, ask one question: Does every Rock owner know what a successful outcome looks like? Use Ninety to make that clarity visible, keep issues connected, and help your team stay aligned.

Focus on the WOW, Not the HOW

When I work with leaders, I often summarize this lesson in a simple phrase:

Focus on the WOW, not the HOW.

The WOW is the outcome.

The HOW is the steps to achieve that outcome.

Empowerment doesn’t mean stepping away and hoping things work out. It means being crystal clear about the outcome that defines success, defining the key moments when you’ll reconnect to align on progress toward those outcomes, and then trusting your people to figure out how to achieve it.

That’s where true accountability lives.

When the outcome is clear, team members can bring creativity, initiative, and problem-solving to the work. Leaders don’t need to micromanage every step.

But if the outcome isn’t clear, people will create their own version of it. And that’s when good intentions turn into wasted effort.

This matters for every team, but it becomes especially visible in distributed environments. When people work remotely, leaders can’t rely on proximity or casual check-ins to clarify expectations. Alignment has to come from intentional communication.

Once the team agrees on the WOW, the HOW can evolve naturally.

Keeping the Circles Connected

Empowerment doesn’t mean disappearing. In EOS, when we talk about keeping the circles connected, that means making sure leaders, team members, and departments stay in regular communication with one another.

Think of it like a Venn diagram: Each person has their own circle of responsibility, but those circles should overlap just enough for people to stay aligned, share information, and solve issues together. When those circles stop overlapping, people start making assumptions, and that’s when work goes off track.

This is where cadence matters.

When someone takes ownership of a Rock or a new responsibility, leaders should agree on the communication rhythm upfront.

On EOS teams, that rhythm already exists. The Level 10 Meeting creates a weekly opportunity for leaders and teammates to connect, solve issues, and keep Rocks moving forward. It’s where problems surface early instead of growing for weeks. And the quarterly conversation provides dedicated one-on-one time for feedback, growth, and alignment.

If you want a team that's both healthy and accountable, these moments aren't optional. They’re the bare minimum structure that prevents empowered people from feeling isolated.

For some Rocks, individuals will need additional async check-ins. For others, it might be a short working session where the Rock owner and leader review progress and adjust course together.

Great leadership means getting to know your people and their unique communication needs.

The Real Meaning of LMA®

Strong teams want autonomy. They want mastery. They want the freedom to solve problems and move the organization forward.

But empowerment only works when it’s paired with clarity and connection.

Leaders define the outcome. Teams own the path. And everyone stays connected through consistent communication.

Because real empowerment doesn’t mean lobbing something over the fence and hoping it gets done the right way. It means leaders providing the vision, clarity, expectations, and connection people need to do their best work.

In other words, LMA done right is Leadership, Management, and Accountability working together to help people succeed.

That’s how teams thrive, whether they’re working side by side or across time zones.

With Ninety, teams can keep Rocks, To-Dos, Issues, and 1-on-1 conversations in one place so leaders can create alignment and accountability without micromanaging. Ready to lead with more clarity? Try Ninety now.