What is Authority For?

• To enable improvement

• To give people a chance

• To stand behind them

• To take responsibility

• To allow people to learn

• To allow people to try

• To allow people to fail

• To allow people to build

• To allow people to take risks

Authority should be used to ensure a positive, change seeking, respectful culture is developed.

Too often though, authority is misused…mainly because it’s misunderstood.

• To standardize (for efficiency)

• To limit change (for efficiency)

• To create fear (of people losing their job, or lowering their status)

• To veto decisions

• To enforce rules

• To make things cheaper

• To be correct

• To be the one that gets to choose

Just because you can doesn’t mean you should. Choose wisely.

Promotions

People confuse leadership with authority. They say they want to get a promotion so they can lead. But what they really want is authority...to be able to tell someone what to do. They want control…to be the boss. They want this for status and to earn more money. And almost all organizations are set up this way…people in charge, managing other people to produce outcomes more efficiently. The better you fit into the system, the more successful you become and in turn you receive more authority. And the cycle continues. But this has nothing at all to do with leadership. Leadership isn’t reserved for people with direct control over another. It has nothing to do with giving instructions. Leadership requires vision for change, the ability to enroll people in a cause and the desire to take responsibility when something doesn’t work out as planned. It means you’re on the hook. Authority comes with a system, a structure that’s on the hook. There are always systems and other people to blame when it doesn’t work.

I haven’t met many people who want more people telling them what to do and exactly how to do it. Alternatively, I meet a lot of people who want to go somewhere exciting, create a legacy and be a part of something bigger than themselves. Seems logical then that we need more leadership and less authority. So who to promote…choose wisely.

The Art of Selection

The hardest part about selecting someone to join your team is dealing with the non-selection. It’s easy to celebrate with the victor…the one that made it. The hard work is teaching the others…explaining why they didn’t make the cut. And more importantly how they can prepare...what specifically they can do to change the outcome next time.  

Authority includes the power to choose. Because in the end, the leader is accountable when it doesn’t work. But authority also comes with the duty to teach and to help people achieve their dreams. This requires a specific vision, enrollment by everyone in that vision and empathy for those that can’t achieve it. Because if there’s a chance someone can get there next time…great leaders ensure they do.