The control/autonomy axis refers to the amount of control you exert over how employees do their jobs and the degree to which you allow employees to make those decisions themselves, and thus to have autonomy over their own activities.

As such, the control/autonomy axis is not unrelated to the direction/consultation axis. Both relate to the question of who has the power to determine how things are done. Direction/consultation pertains to general decision-making regarding projects, strategy, solutions to problems and so on; control/autonomy pertains to how each person approaches his or her own job tasks.

It should not be assumed, therefore, that a high degree of direction automatically implies a high degree of control. A manager could be highly directive as to how an issue is to be approached—what the deadlines are, what the strategy should be, what the goals or targets are, and so forth—while at the same time ceding full autonomy to employees in actually getting...