Under what circumstances are leaders able to effectively lead a department, an area, or even an entire company? This contribution draws attention to the question of which working conditions can support or hinder leaders in their leadership tasks. With the concept of leadership autonomy, we present a central resource for effective leadership action. Starting from the fact that autonomy for employees with and without leadership responsibilities is one of the most important working conditions to promote performance and motivation and to mitigate stress, the concept of leadership autonomy was developed. Leadership autonomy describes the extent to which leaders have sufficient freedoms in the areas of personnel responsibility, delegation and control of tasks, as well as organization and coordination to be able to fulfill their leadership tasks. The measuring instrument with its ten questions and its application in a company intervention process are presented. We conclude with indications of how leadership autonomy can be used generally and specifically for the health and career promotion of employees—thus for two central leadership tasks.