Not all decision-making experience is equally useful for your future.
If you eventually want to lead projects, you might want experience prioritizing resources and coordinating people.
If you’re interested in operations, you may want decisions involving processes, efficiency, and capacity.
If you’re interested in customer-facing work, you may want experience handling trade-offs and customer outcomes.
If you want to become a manager, you may want practice making decisions that affect other people’s work.
Think beyond:
“How do I get more authority?”
Ask:
“What kind of judgment do I want to become good at?”
That question can make your career development much more intentional.
A Practical 30-Day Challenge
If you’re currently trusted with work but not decisions, try this for a month.
Week 1: Notice
Record decisions you encounter during normal work.
What decisions did someone else make?
What decisions did you make?
Where did you need approval?
Week 2: Analyze
For several decisions, write down:
- What was the goal?
- What information mattered?
- What were the options?
- What were the trade-offs?
- What would you have recommended?
Week 3: Recommend
When appropriate, stop bringing only questions.
Bring a recommendation with your question.
Week 4: Ask
Have a conversation with your manager about decision-making authority.
Ask what decisions they would be comfortable having you own.
Then agree on clear boundaries.
This approach is much more powerful than simply saying:
“I want more responsibility.”
You’re showing that you understand what responsibility actually involves.
The Goal Is to Become Safe to Trust With Judgment
Being trusted with work is an important achievement.
It means people believe you’ll follow through.
But the next stage of many careers requires something different.
People need to believe that when the instructions stop, you can still make progress.
That doesn’t mean you’ll always know the answer.
It doesn’t mean you’ll never make a mistake.
It doesn’t mean you should make every decision alone.
It means people can trust your thinking.
You understand the goal.
You consider the consequences.
You know what information matters.
You recognize when something is risky.
You ask for help when you need it.
You make recommendations instead of simply passing problems upward.
And when something goes wrong, you take responsibility for what happens next.
That’s how decision-making trust is built.
So if you’re currently in the uncomfortable middle ground—trusted with important work but still waiting for more decision-making authority—don’t assume you’re stuck.
Use the work you’re already trusted with as evidence.
Make your reasoning visible.
Start with smaller decisions.
Ask what “ready” looks like.
Learn the business context.
And gradually show that you don’t just know how to get the work done.
You understand what should happen next and why.
That’s often the capability that changes the kind of work people are willing to give you.