u/pc_io

One management cliché I increasingly disagree with is:

“Always take ownership of every decision.”

I agree the fastest way to lose trust as a manager is saying:

“Leadership made me do it.”

But the second fastest is pretending you had more authority than you actually did.

Employees usually know when a manager is overstating their influence. It feels performative in the same way “I’m just following orders” feels evasive.

The best managers I’ve worked with were honest about both:

• what they genuinely influenced
• what they were responsible for communicating

Not:

“I’m just the messenger.”

And not:

“I personally decided everything.”

Rather:

“Here’s the decision, here’s the context, and here’s what I actually own.”

That honesty builds more trust than performative ownership.