A discussion around workplace ownership and leadership gained attention after InstaAstro founder and CEO Nitin Verma shared a personal hiring experience on LinkedIn, where he said he dismissed a senior employee after a conversation about what work should be done next.
Verma said he had hired the employee for a senior position because he “didn’t want to think for that function anymore” and had given the person “full freedom” from the first day.
According to Verma, despite there being “No micromanagement. No daily check-ins. No approvals needed”, the employee later approached him and asked, “Sir tell me what to do next.”
Recalling the interaction, Verma said he responded by asking the employee what he thought should be done next. He said the employee replied, “Sir you know better.”
“I asked, why did I hire you then?” Verma wrote, adding that the exchange ended with “Silence.”
Ownership cannot be handed over, says Verma
Using the incident to explain his approach towards leadership and management, Verma said the experience changed how he viewed ownership in the workplace.
“Here’s what I have learned about ownership, You cannot give it to someone. Either they walk in with it. Or they never find it,” he wrote.
Verma also said that “Freedom without ownership is just confusion” and added that he could not build a company with people who needed to be told “what to think.”
Addressing senior professionals, Verma wrote: “Your job is to walk in every morning and ask yourself, What needs to be done? That’s what seniority actually means.”
The post drew varied reactions on LinkedIn, with several users debating whether the issue was about ownership, leadership expectations, or communication.
One user suggested that the employee may have simply been attempting to understand the founder’s direction before making a major decision. “But sometimes a new hire just wants to align with your vision before making a massive strategic call,” the comment read.
Another questioned whether sufficient guidance had been provided in the first place. “Giving someone ‘full freedom’ without defining priorities, outcomes, decision boundaries, or what success looks like can create confusion rather than ownership,” the user wrote.
A separate comment argued that senior employees often face resistance when trying to change existing systems. “When freedom is given to senior folks to operate how they want, ultimately they try to take calls for the betterment of the system,” the user wrote, adding that such attempts can sometimes make long-standing teams uncomfortable.
Others sided with Verma’s broader point around accountability. One user shared a lesson from a former manager, writing: “My first boss told me to never bring him a problem without bringing three solutions first. That advice changed my entire career.”
Follow Storyboard18 on Google for the latest and breaking trending news and industry updates, along with in-depth coverage of digital media and special coverage. Stay informed with the latest perspectives only on Storyboard18.
First Published on May 19, 2026, 18:16:01 IST
