The Controller where I work doesn't know what a Controller does for a living. She seems to think that pulling me away from doing my job to sit on the phone and get some unverifiable information is the best use of both of our time. While if I had done that call 5 minutes prior on my own, that would have been a huge waste of time and an annoyance to the person I called.
So what do I do? Nothing. I don't try because all things being equal, the way I didn't do it would be the only right way to have done it.
If you're an employer and you have good employees who get their stuff done…let them. Don't think that the thought that just popped into your head is so ingenious that there is no way anyone else could have considered it. Don't pull them away from doing work that they know how to do, likely better than you do, to do stupid tasks that can be done at other times if they even needed to be done.
Oh, also don't tell your employees that your customer / vendor needs to do something. What is the expectation there when that ball is already in their court? That I should drive to their location, track them down, put pens in their hands and threaten to pulverize them if they don't sign?
(To be clear, I am very good at my job, I know all of the ins and outs, and I am the only person in my position.)