Sloan on Social Responsibility

Authority without responsibility is illegitimate;
but so is ressponsibility without authority. 

“Public: responsibility was to Alfred Sloan worse than unprofessional; it was irresponsible, a usurpation of power. “We have a responsibility toward higher education,” a cheif executive of a major Americal corporation once said at a meeting both Sloan and I attended. “Do we in business have any authority over higher education?” Sloan asked. “Should we have any?” “Of course not,” was the answer. “Then let’s not talk about responsibility,'” said Sloan with asperity. “You are a senior executive in a big company and you know the first rule: authority and responsibility must be congruent and commensurate to each other. If you don’t want authority and should’nt have it, don’t talk about resposibility. And if you don’t want resposibility and should’nt hve it, don’t tal about authority.

Sloan based this on management principles. But of course it is the first lesson of political theory and poitical history. Authority without responsibility is illegitimate; but so is responsibility without authority. Both lead tyranny. Sloan wanted great deal of authority for his professional manager, and was ready to take high responsibility. But for that reason he insisted on limiting authority to the areas of professional competence, and refused to assert or admit responsibility in areas outside them.

ACTION POINT: Do your areas of responsibility match you authority? Make recommendations for achieving a closer match.

Adventures of a Bystander