“So, you believe, when your manager left you to solve the problem, simply by asking you questions, that brought value to your thinking. Are you sure your manager wasn’t just being lazy, maybe indecisive herself?” I asked.

“Oh, no. Quite the contrary,” Kim replied.

“Are you sure?”

“Absolutely, my manager was clear about decision making. We even had three meetings together just to make a list of all the decisions that needed to be made in our department. Then we grouped the decisions according to who had the authority. Here is the list –

• Decisions I could make, and didn’t even have to tell my manager.
• Decisions I could make, but had to tell my manager, after the decision was made.
• Decisions I could make, but had to tell my manager, before the decision was made.
• Decisions I had to discuss with my manager, but the decision was still mine to make.
• Decisions I had to discuss with my manager, but the decision was my manager’s.
• Decisions my manager would make without discussion.

So, my manager was clear about decision making authority in our working relationship.”