It’s tough to take responsibility for someone else’s actions — even if they are younger, less educated, less confident, and not being paid even a pittance for their time. When you ask a manager in a business to take that kind of responsibility, you also give them the power to hire and fire. Of course, the best managers don’t use that power to get performance from their team, but neither do they have to take all comers.

Being responsible for someone else’s actions feels like a risk, and certainly like a lot of work. As has been discussed here and over at TMAO’s place, there aren’t really any rewards for stepping up to that level. So where does that leave us?