Have you considered the difference between accountability, responsibility, authority, and delegation? Barr and Dowsing, in their book: Leadership in Health Care, suggest the following meanings (2019, p.248-249):
Accountability means being able to explain and justify actions or non-actions for a responsibility given to you; this is seen as an important part of a quality system.
Responsibility involves an obligation to perform certain duties or make certain decisions, and having to accept any reprimand from the manager for unsatisfactory performance.
Authority is the right to act or make decisions that legitimizes the exercise of power within an organization.
Delegation means the conferring of a special authority from a higher authority and involves a two-part responsibility; the one to whom authority is delegated becomes responsible to the superior for doing the job, but the superior remains responsible for getting the job done.
Barr, J. & Dowsing, L. (2019) Theory of Communication In Leadership in Healthcare, Chapter 12 (pp 229-254) SAGE Publications, London.
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