The same instruction can sound like permission or threat depending on who delivers it.

The same words carry different weight depending on who says them. Let me know if you need anything is warm from a colleague and loaded from someone who controls your position. Feel free to take the day off can be genuine or a test, and the recipient often cannot tell.

If you hold any authority, remember your suggestions land as instructions. Be explicit that something is optional, and mean it, and notice whether anyone ever takes you up on it. If nobody does, the permission is not being received as permission.