A Leader's Responsibility

The senior leadership in the Philippine Government is very fond of the idea that individuals and departments should be allowed to operate independently as much as possible. Perhaps this is to avoid accusations of micromanagement, or more likely because intrusion so often results in turf wars or feuds. The result of this approach though, is a lack of supervision and a lack of accountability. This leaves officials, even at very senior levels, free to perform poorly or not at all, without consequence. In addition, it opens up a variety of opportunities for corruption. Although it's certainly possible for a leader to become too involved in the control of a subordinate's operation, we have to dispel the notion that any supervisory oversight is automatically micromanagement. The two are simply not the same thing. A manager must ask questions: "what are you doing?"... "how are you doing it?"..."show me your results." This is not micromanagement. It is, in fact, responsible management.

The idea that each government agency is autonomous contradicts the principle that each must be accountable. They cannot be both. This applies at all levels of government, from the Supreme Court, to the Department of National Defense, down to the smallest Barangay. No individual or government entity can be so autonomous as to be free from oversight.