People in positions of authority are often just as vulnerable, scared, inconsistent and flawed as anyone else. So, regardless of your position, remember you can always add value. People who add value ask important questions, think about the impact of the decisions being made and are willing to take charge. You are the resident expert in your professional space so you know the issues best.

And if you, like many these days, are being asked to reexamine the way business is done, we invite you to take this opportunity to re-engineer inefficient bureaucracies, fix the flaws, minimize the gaps and eliminate redundancies to enhance and maximize your output. In other words, don’t moan, this is the time to move. Don’t turn a blind eye, don’t simply go through the motions. Be sure you offer a possible solution for every problem you identify. Think impact, engage and add value.

Here’s an excerpt on how to step up and take charge from BOOM, 7 Choices for Blowing the Doors off Business-As-Usual:

“Don’t buy into the ‘senior executive as god’ syndrome. People in authority cannot possibly know it all, be it all, or do it all. The business world in which we live is far too specialized and complicated for that.

Warren Bennis, one of the foremost thought leaders of our time, tells a story about his experience as president of the University of Cincinnati. He came in to work one day to find his office stormed by students who were outraged about two gorgeous trees that had been cut down to widen a road on campus. After probing for a bit, Bennis learned that the person who chopped down the trees was employed by a local contractor who was hired by the landscape architect to carry out the design. The landscape architect was hired by the university’s director of planning, who worked for the vice president of management and finance, who, in turn, answered to the building committee. The building committee reported to the executive vice president. When Bennis got all twenty of them together in a room, everyone was innocent – including himself. His point: bureaucracies are great hiding places and effective instruments for evading responsibility. They breed fragmented decision making and conformity without necessarily being in touch with reality. And the result? Two beautiful landmark trees cut down.

What if someone in the fragmented line of bureaucratic decisions – anyone! – had simply raised a hand and said, “Wait a minute…”

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