Applying subsidiarity: a powerful weapon for the Solid Manager
Managers, learn how to apply subsidiarity to empower your team and strengthen your authority.
It is June 30, 2025, as I write these lines, and the word is (for the moment) rarely used, but the principle is simple:
What your team can do on its own, it should do.
That's what subsidiarity is all about: a powerful organizational principle that is often overlooked, even though it could resolve at least 80% of managerial bottlenecks. That's what I call a radical structuring tool: clarity of roles, transfer of responsibility, refocused authority.
In this article, I explain what subsidiarity is, why it is essential to any high-performing team, and, above all, how to implement it in your day-to-day management without undermining your authority.
1. Understanding subsidiarity: clear definition and direct application
The term comes from the Latin subsidium: "support, reinforcement." The principle is as follows:
Decisions should be made at the lowest possible level, provided that this level has the capacity to act.
In management, this means that the manager only intervenes when the team cannot do it alone. It is a structured system, where everyone knows what they have to do, how far they can go, and when they need to raise the alarm.
I compare subsidiarity to architecture because it involves:
clear objectives,
defined roles,
explicit rules of the game,
a supporting manager but not intrusive.
2. Why subsidiarity is key to performance
It empowers
By applying subsidiarity, you stop dictating. You provide a framework.
“This is what we’re aiming for. You’re responsible for how.”
Employees move from being mere executors to becoming actors fully capable of thinking, deciding, and taking responsibility. I like to say that subsidiarity makes people grow up, and that it is a real school of responsibility.
It speeds up
The time you spend making micro-decisions slows everything down: your team waits for you, your mental load explodes, and ultimately, you burn out. By applying the principle of subsidiarity, decisions are made where the data is, where the action really takes place. Action becomes more fluid, responsibilities are clear, and you finally gain time to manage.
It activates collective intelligence
Your employees see problems and have ideas, but they wait for your green light. Subsidiarity unleashes this intelligence: it breaks down the barriers of wait-and-see attitudes and transforms followers into contributors.
3. Obstacles: why managers don't go for it
Fear of heights
Many managers I work with say to themselves, "If I don't show that I'm the one making the decisions, I'm useless." I believe this is a mistake. In reality, deciding everything makes you useless in the medium term because you exhaust your energy, you kill initiative, and you gradually lose the core of your informal legitimacy and even the esteem of your team.
Unclear objectives
Without a clear and well-established goal (using a SMART method, for example), you cannot make decisions: without clear objectives, precise indicators, and established rules, subsidiarity will produce the exact opposite of the autonomy you are seeking, namely chaos.
No follow-up
There is often confusion between the terms: "letting go" is not the same as "letting things slide." Delegating does not mean disappearing, and this is even more true in a system of subsidiarity. You will never achieve subsidiarity if you do not have clear and structured management reflexes. This requires precise checkpoints, regular feedback, and calibrated reporting to ensure follow-up.
4. Implementing subsidiarity: a clear method, rapid results
Step 1: Clarify your scope as a manager
If you start by asking this question out of the blue:
“What am I really indispensable for?”
You can deduce everything that is transferable. Obviously, you can't do this haphazardly. Start by listing the topics where your employees:
have the skills,
have the information,
have the tools.
These are the areas you need to structure.
Step 2: Set clear framework
Subsidiarity only works within a clear framework.
Framework = specific objectives (deadline, deliverable, success criteria) + room for maneuver (what is left to personal initiative) + alert thresholds (when information must be reported to you)
It is this combination that allows you to free up space without creating disorder.
Step 3: Provide the means
You cannot demand high-quality decisions without providing the conditions for decision-making..
This includes:
access to the necessary information,
the right to make formal and supervised mistakes,
support when needed.
A poorly equipped employee is a trapped delegate, and you are responsible for that.
Step 4: Follow a structured approach
Don't validate. Follow.
Here what to set:
an upstream framing point,
a reporting mechanism (as simple as possible, so choose indicators that are truly relevant),
regular milestones,
One rule: "When in doubt, alert immediately." I suggest this one, but you can adapt it, of course.
In a subsidiarity mechanism, the Solid Manager does not intervene reflexively but only in exceptional circumstances.
5. What you gain, and what your team gains
For you: enhanced authority (legitimacy)
Many managers believe that by giving their subordinates more freedom, they lose some of their status. This is a possibility; if you don't structure subsidiarity, you risk losing control. However, if you follow the few rules I'm giving you today, you'll come out ahead:
"strategic" time, useful for focusing on the medium to long term,
with hindsight,
respect.
You become the frame reference for the team, not the all-knowing boss, and that is exactly what a mature team is looking for.
For the team: real autonomy
Your employees no longer wait for your approval: they move forward, test things out, and keep you informed. They become stronger because they are exposed to challenges but also supported. Subsidiarity is precisely that: learning under moderate pressure. And that is what really helps teams progress.
Conclusion
Strong managers don’t exhaust themselves by making decisions for others. They structure, demand, and step back when it is not necessary. They establish rituals while protecting what is essential: clarity, responsibility, and movement.
I like to say that subsidiarity is a test of managerial maturity.
Either you organize the advancement of your employees, or you become their glass ceiling.
To your solidity,
Olivier KAMEL