To accomplish policy tasks, political leaders and executives entrust bureaucrats who possess specialized knowledge, however in doing so, they face the potential loss of control over policy...Show moreTo accomplish policy tasks, political leaders and executives entrust bureaucrats who possess specialized knowledge, however in doing so, they face the potential loss of control over policy formulation and execution. This becomes problematic if bureaucrats hold differing preferences from their superiors. The study examines how leaders in public institutions behave in face of insubordination under modern governing conditions where decentralization, outsourcing and market-based reasoning are major factors. It establishes how executives manage bureaucratic insubordination in a specific case of Polish sub-national institutions, contributing to an academically underrepresented institutional setting. Supported by the typology of Yukl (2012) it outlines practical and realistic models of executive behavior.Show less