The goal of systems administration is to provide an environment where users can get done what they need to do, in as easy and efficient manner as possible, given the constraints of security, other users' needs, the inherent ties of the system, and the realities and constraints of the human community in which it is located.
The systems administrator must maintain a balance between authority and responsibility on the one hand and service and cooperation on the other.

-- adapted from AEleen Frisch, Essential System Administration. O'Reilly. 1991.