“Leadership is about creating the right conditions for others to thrive,” strategist and coach David Lancefield said during our interview.
Lancefield, also the founder of Strategy Shift, understands leadership beyond the mechanics of strategy. His work with CEOs and executive teams boils down to one central idea: give people the space and trust to lead, and they’ll surprise you.
For Lancefield, it’s all about empowerment. “You can’t be everywhere, controlling every decision,” he notes. Leadership becomes more effective when you trust others to make choices within a framework you’ve set. It’s not about abdicating responsibility as a leader; on the contrary. Good leadership is about creating an environment and conditions that allow for both autonomy and accountability.
However, autonomy does not infer the absence of order. Autonomy is about trusting individuals and giving them the freedom to lead independently while certain guardrails persist.
Lancefield shared an example when he worked with a CEO struggling to release decision-making power. By gradually giving his team more autonomy, the leader witnessed a transformation—teams became more agile, solutions more innovative, and accountability soared. “People step up when they know they’re trusted,” he says.
A similar notion was highlighted in a comprehensive meta-analysis study of empowering leadership by Allan Lee, Sara Willis, and Amy Wei Tian.
The study gathered data from over 100 samples and concluded that empowerment highly increases engagement and trust between leaders and their staff. In sum, trust doesn’t dilute leadership; it builds it. When leaders create clear expectations but let their teams take charge, they foster team cultures where innovation has the chance to flourish.
Transformation Starts with Involvement
In Lancefield’s view, transformation is never about pushing a plan onto people.
“You’ve got to bring them along with you,” he insists. That’s where many leaders go wrong. They craft a brilliant strategy but forget the most crucial element—engaging their people. “You’ve got to involve them early. Get their input. Make them feel like they’re part of the journey.”
Lancefield shared a story about an organization he worked with that had all the right pieces for success but couldn’t get off the ground. “The strategy was sound, but the employees weren’t bought in,” he recalls. The turning point came when leadership began to engage their teams in the process. “Once they felt part of the solution, the momentum picked up.”
In my experience, it’s not enough to tell people where you’re going—you’ve got to let them help shape the path. That is the mark of authentic leadership, one that ensures a transformation will be successful.
Building Leadership by Letting Go
For Lancefield, leadership is also about creating an environment where people can lead themselves.
“You’ve got to set the stage, then let them take the reins,” he says. That doesn’t mean abandoning support; it means giving them the space to make decisions and grow within the framework you’ve set.
“When people feel trusted to lead, they don’t just follow orders—they take ownership,” he explains. Naturally, trust creates a positive ripple effect throughout the organization. Teams begin to solve problems independently, innovation increases, and leaders feel empowered at every level to make decisions.
“Leadership isn’t about telling people what to do. It’s about giving them the confidence and space to figure it out themselves,” he says.
Any organization that wishes to transition from one level of performance to another needs to adopt this mindset. Lancefield’s perspective is acutely clear: to be a leader in 2024 and beyond requires trust while simultaneously relinquishing control.
Continuous Learning
Furthermore, Lancefield believes that a leader is responsible for fostering a continuous learning culture.
“You need to create an environment where people aren’t afraid to learn on the job,” he says. Lancefield wants leaders to allow team members to experiment, take risks, and develop new skills. He thinks leaders must create conditions where employees can learn to solve problems themselves.
He remembers working with a client who encouraged learning at every level. The company started seeing better problem-solving and a more resilient workforce. “Learning drives growth,” he notes. “When people feel they can push their boundaries, they gain confidence—and confident people do great work.”
Creating Space as Leaders
Lancefield reminds us that leadership is about creating a suitable space for others to succeed. Trusting your people to make decisions, lead, and learn from their challenges is tantamount to earning a leadership gold medal. The more leaders focus on empowering their team members, the more they can build cultures that thrive on responsibility, innovation, and growth.
Leaders aren’t there to do everything themselves. The ones that do wind up in a pool of strife.
They’re there to create conditions for team members to be their best. When leaders step back just enough to let their teams own their work, they see the potential unfold. “It’s about trusting them to rise to the occasion,” says Lancefield, and when leaders embrace that idea, the results can be transformational.
Lancefield is an ardent supporter that leadership is about unlocking what’s already there. He believes people can perform at high levels when they feel trusted, empowered, and heard. I, for one, am all in for that type of leader.
Watch the full interview with David Lancefield and Dan Pontefract on the Leadership NOW program below, or listen to it on your favorite podcast.