Authority, Accountability & Responsibility

When we talk about someone being in a position of authority we usually mean that they hold a certain rank or status within society or within an organisation such as the public services. There are several ways in which a person could find himself or herself in a position of authority. For example, a priest has the authority of the church while a mother or father has parental authority over children. In the uniformed public services, positions of authority come with promotion. An officer may be promoted because of certain achievements and special attributes, such as experience in the service, good character, knowledge of the job, dedication, self-discipline and the respect of one’s colleagues. If you join the uniformed public services and are placed in a position of authority, you may lawfully command team members, who recognise your authority and their duty to obey those legitimate commands. When authority is legitimate, there is no need to influence or use power. Indeed, if a senior officer were unable to gain the respect of a team member by command alone, then there would be no recognisable authority.

     Following authority is most noticed when it comes to military. Soldiers will do almost anything that their commander tells them. In a good way this is useful but when what they are doing is morally wrong there should be boundaries. But there are none and if they don’t do what they are told then they have to face the punishment. But

Delegation is widely acknowledged to be an essential element of effective management (Yukl, G. 1994). Delegation is basically a process of assigning responsibility, sharing authority, and producing accountability in organizations. It is a managerial instrument that allows managers to nurture subordinates to capitalize the subordinate’s potential and ability to meet organizational goals and objectives. As a form of employee involvement in decision-making, delegation describes a category of leader behavior that entails assignment of new responsibilities to subordinates and additional authority to carry them out (Yukl, G. 1998). Managers usually find it easier to speak about delegation of

Delegation can save money and time, help in building skills, and motivate people. Poor delegation, on the other hand, might cause frustration and confusion to all the involved parties.

The essays that comprise Traditional Classics on Leadership present varying notions of authority and of challenging authority. This is largely due to the fact that this manuscript is comprised of essays from 31 contributors, ranging from well-known political theorists to some of the more salient voices for individuality that the world has known. Still, there are some points of commonalities in these essays that present a synthesized viewpoint of the concept of challenging authority.

Delegation is a formal process through which a regulated health professional (delegator) who has the authority and competence to perform a procedure under one of the controlled acts delegates the performance of that procedure to another individual (delegatee) (College of Nurses of Ontario, 2014).

In nursing, delegation helps in making use of the talent or skills of another person. One nurse transfers interventions which are under his/her practice roles to another to another member of the healthcare team who lacks such powers authorized under their scope of practice. Delegation can only take place if it is in patient’s best interest.

Delegation of authority is the act of assigning powers or authority to another entity. In this paper, I will summarize a situation where I experienced delegation of authority, and explain how it correlates to the content of Chapter Six, (Bagley & Savage, 2010).

Authority cannot exist without obedience. Society is built on this small, but important concept. Without authority and its required obedience, there would only be anarchy and chaos. But how much is too much, or too little? There is a fine line between following blindly and irrational refusal to obey those in a meaningful position of authority. Obedience to authority is a real and powerful force that should be understood and respected in order to handle each situation in the best possible manner.

The concept of leadership by authority is when a focus of power is with the manager. People tend to follow people who are seen as powerful. The manager will make the decisions, oversee policies and procedures for achieving goals, work tasks, control of rewards or hand out the punishments.

Authority represents the power that lies within a managerial position and that gives the manager the right to assign the jobs to his subordinates and to expect that the assigned jobs would be completed by the subordinates. By the virtue of authority, the superiors are empowered to make their juniors and subordinates work. The organizational structure should clearly define the line of authority so that the overlapping actions might be avoided (Mahida).

What is delegation? According to Bateman, delegation "is the assignment of authority and responsibility to a subordinate at a lower level." (Bateman

Delegation and empowerment involve authority to complete a task or accomplish a goal; they do not assign or transfer responsibility in any way. Management must always take care to remember they are ultimately responsible for tasks they delegate. As tasks are completed the manager must review the delegated work and ensure that it is complete, done properly, and meets your high standards. If you as the manager are satisfied then recognize those who accomplished the task but if it not acceptable then do not accept the work and do it yourself (Mind Tools, 2007). When managers delegate or empower their staff they must clearly articulate the

The authority of an agent is the act which he is allowed or authorised to do by his principal, and which will bind his/her principal. Usually, the principal will only be bound by the act of the agent if the agent acts within his/her authority. There are two types of authority which an agent could rely on, namely actual authority and apparent or ostensible authority.

| The leader’s authority to issue orders which the subordinates are obligated to accept. The legitimate power increases with an increase in one’s position in an organization (Wood et al, 2010).