One of the problems with the word “leadership” is that it is pretty slippery. You can define it to mean whatever you wish to emphasize, under whatever circumstances you face, at any given moment. So, let’s just consider the two basic categories into which definitions of leadership, or its presumed components, tend to fall . . .
We have seen that a manager cannot delegate responsibility, but can delegate authority without losing any of it – and without losing any control, into the bargain. So, how does this relate to the commonly made suggestion that employees should be given “ownership” of decisions? To begin with, it points to something that is key to a proper understanding of delegating . . .
Many managers are concerned at the prospect of delegating authority to their staffs because they think it amounts to yielding control. Actually, though, you yield neither. We’ll talk about what that means with respect to authority, tomorrow. Today, let’s take a look at control. To begin with, It is worthwhile to bear in mind that there are two ways for a manager to view this function. . .
Responsibility is a surprisingly slippery subject in the world of modern organizations. We talk about it easily and with assurance. But it turns out that we can often find ourselves talking past each other about quite different uses of the term. Let’s take a quick look at one way this works. . .
Whether you keep your juniors on a short leash, or give them plenty of rope to hang themselves with, it’s worth remembering that you’re still left holding the other end. Ultimately, the CSI team is going to find you there. What have you been doing at your end of things?
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