I share this piece with a view of hearing from colleagues regarding solution based experiences. I will give a common example to set a base for discussion.

In an organisation, a team lead gives authority to his/ her report to see to implementation of a certain activity. As the recipient of the directive, the report decides that they will act in their own time especially that no action can be taken without their facilitation. After a period, it comes to the attention of the leader that the directive has not been executed and there is no reason for the inaction on the part of the report. When asked, the report says “ I will do it.”

Have you ever found yourself in such a situation? What kind of response have you given in the circumstances?

Have you said
“ Well that’s not good enough! I gave you an instruction and you have chosen to take your time … are you not being insubordinate?”
or
“ Oh, okay, I will wait until you get to it, thanks…”

Sometimes in governance, functionaries understand their function to implement authority that has been given to mean that authority to approve the action has been transferred to them by the person or body that gave them authority to act.

One of the outcomes is a perception that some actors think they are a law upon themselves which may cause unnecessary friction amongst actors. Rigidity where there is preferable option of flexibility and efficiency has no place in an organisation. This singular behavior may be the difference between success and failure in terms of organizational performance.

There are also instances when the person who is charged with the responsibility of executing an approved action, doesn’t agree with the instruction even after being given the opportunity to provide their views and has been overruled. When the instruction is conveyed to them, they decide to execute it in the most frustrating manner and at worst, in defiance of the authority.

My view is that the pain point is in understanding one’s role and the extent of their authority if any. Further, recognizing that one’s wants or preferences may not always carry the day is an important consideration.

I always think that good governance and organizational behaviour has, in most cases, inherent mechanisms such as ethical conduct to guide in such predicaments.

Some of the principles of ethical conduct are respect and integrity. Actors are required to respect and show respect to one another and to preserve their integrity, as individuals and as a collective. An actor who feels that his/her integrity has been violated has the option to step aside from the vice so that they are not associated with the action complained of.

I look forward to hearing from colleagues what their experiences have been and what solutions are available to actors from a leadership as well as implementation perspective.

Let’s share!