Do You Really Need Permission?

I frequently hear this comment from supervisors "My boss won't let me do my job." I frequently hear a much different comment from executives "Those supervisors don't take the bull by the horns." There's obviously a disconnect here.

In a pharmaceutical company in-house seminar a manager described a problem he was having with his boss. It seemed his boss would never respond to requests for permission to try something new or to do something differently. Very often the conversation ended with the boss saying something like "I'll think about it" or "I'll get back to you." On those rare occasions when the boss actually did respond the answer was ambiguous, not a clear yes or no.

Participants in the seminar offered many suggestions, but none seemed to be on target. Finally someone asked who the boss was since they all worked in the same company (although in different locations). When the boss was identified another participant said "That's funny, I used to work for him and I never had that problem."

Naturally the manager with the issue asked "How did you get him to give you permission?"

"I didn't," said the other. "I never asked him for permission because I learned early on that he didn't want to get involved in what I do as long as I delivered results. I kept keep him posted after the fact and he would acknowledge me with something like 'great' or 'that's good.' On major changes I would ask for his opinion instead of his permission. He was happy to give opinions rather than decisions. In light of the comments in his opinion I would then make a no go decision if I thought he wouldn't be happy with the idea going forward."

If you face a similar situation, think about what would happen if you went ahead and did something without permission. For a routine operating decision I'd guess most bosses would be just as glad if you went ahead and handled it yourself. But no need to take my guess on it. There's two ways to find out. The first is to ask your boss directly if it's okay to make some of the decisions that you usually seek permission for. A great time to do that is right after permission was sought and granted. At that time you could ask, "Would it have been okay with you if I had just gone ahead and done it without troubling you?"

The other way is to test the concept. Choose a small decision (not a major one) and try it without asking permission. What's the worst that could possibly happen? A small reprimand? If you get a small reprimand then you'll know you need permission for even the smallest things. If a small decision seems to work, try a slightly bigger decision next time. See what happens. Keep going until you reach a point where your boss starts to criticize or you start to get uncomfortable proceeding without permission. At that point you'll have some sense of the boundary line for proceeding on your own.

About this post: Dan Pelley works with managers at all levels to improve communications and working relationships in the process of solving problems and making improvements. He combines his experience as an operating manager and an educator to provide powerful, focused hands-on programs to solve real-world business problems.

Copyright © 2009 Daniel W. Pelley
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