Coaching Tip: Responsibility Without Authority
Category: Coaching Secrets (CS208)Originally Submitted on 1/4/00.
Introduction
Giving responsibility without authority is a tendency in many organizations. Senior managers need to see that holding control too tightly can actually strangle an otherwise blossoming organization. A coach can help.
The Coaching Tip
Many small business owners who hire coaches are so wrapped up in their dream of what they want their company to be that they are unable to let go of control. They may feel so personally involved in the organization's results that they cannot take the risk of allowing others to make decisions. As a result, middle managers are often given responsibility for results, but no authority to bring about changes.A coach can help senior manager clients to realize that others ARE having an effect on organization results, regardless. What is important is the optimizing of these results. A middle manager who is held responsible for results, for managing his/her own supervisees, but who has no authority to make any needed changes, is managing with both hands tied.
(If the issue is truly that middle managers cannot be trusted, then the organization needs to examine its hiring practices.)
About the Submitter
This piece was originally submitted by Diana Robinson, Ph.D., Personal Development Coach, who can be reached at Diana@ChoiceCoach.com, or visited on the web. Diana Robinson wants you to know: My coaching focuses on personal growth, which inevitably results in greater success however YOU choose to define it. To learn more, and/or to subscribe to either/both of my two free e-mail newsletters, please visit my web site. I also offer you the gift of a half-hour of free coaching by phone, with no obligation.
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