Authority, But LEADERSHIP FIRST

Authority makes the entire difference

Whether we accept it or not but leadership with authority impacts any organization directly and immensely. Every decision taken by the leadership which holds the top authority and decision-making prerogative entirely affects the organization’s direction. World has witnessed many ups and downs just because of the decisions taken by the leaders at various occasions and places. We have been enjoying the fruits of wonderful decisions of leaders and also suffered the worst decision of leaders at every point of time in world history.

Although leadership is not dependent on authority yet authority has the massive stroke on the way organizations and their people behave and react or respond. Leadership hold enormous powers to make or break any establishment. There have been enumerable examples where leadership sailed through any predicament faced by organizations and also the disasters caused by the way leadership handled the challenging situations.

In the first chapter of his renowned book “The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership”, author John C. Maxwell convincingly elucidates how some of the organizations changed the leadership without a second thought in the wake of depressive and degrowing circumstances. His famous quote “Everything falls on leadership” has been one of the most inspiring and absolutely pragmatic factors behind any organization’s success or failure, because its the leader who carves out the organization.

While authority is a two-edged sword, very few leaders are able to understand and develop the skills and acumen to use their power to uplift the teams they lead and make it one of the most dependable elements of any establishment. Some leaders take authority as the means to wield their clout on their teams and employees while good leadership assumes as one of the best opportunities to uplift their teams and systems to the greater heights where the organization can vouch for them in order to cogitating on taking a big leap.

Leaders and their notion of Authority

Poor or lack minded leaders think that authority is for getting the work done and that is the only way of doing so, whereas the growth minded and team focused leaders put their attention to utilizing authority as a tool of empowering their teams so that It takes less efforts for their teams to accomplish the current and future tasks and objective. There ultimate goal of an influential leadership is to facilitate their teams in becoming stronger and ever ready and equipped to face any challenge in utmost skillful manner.

I am reminded of one case study which happens to be my own experience of witnessing both type of leaderships which took power and authority in entirely different perspective and are now reaping the fruits of their own deeds of their application of authority in past. For the sanctity of identity, I am not naming them here.

Real life story of two leaders with different perspectives(Aston & Gabriel)

Two colleagues Gabriel and Aston (name changed due to identity secrecy), started an organization with great gusto as it happens with every entrepreneur. Aston possessed the sense of authority and leadership as the source of developing his team for the consistent growth and expansion of business in a way that it survives and thrives in all odd circumstances. Gabriel focused on momentary and immediate results causing the team to be always on its toes. While the Aston stayed calm, cool and receptive of outcomes he encountered whether favorable or adverse, Gabriel kept high on adrenaline every time and banked upon his supremacy to force and push his decisions and dragged the team to follow them willingly or otherwise.

The business took time to establish, sustain, thrive and expand but over a period of almost 15 years both the leaders continued to their attitudes toward the business and their respective teams. The business testified many good or bad events and eventually kept moving on. While the first leader maintained his vision on team building and listening to his team’s issues, suggestions and improvement ideas, some accepted and others gently declined, the second leader emphasized on reinstating his business thoughts as to be the only guiding factor for the growth conceptualization. In the long journey of 15 years Aston, the leader with receptive mind garnered a team of wonderful people with considerable stability, the other one, Gabriel, faced persistent challenges of high turnover in his team mates. Every time the energy, money and loss of business were borne because of dissent between the leader and the team. Every new entrant in the team stated complaining about the leader’s unaccommodating nature and absence of welcoming the suggestions, observations and corrective inputs.

End result of exercising Authority in two different ways

Today when both of them look back how much they have walked the road of success or failure, Aston, the leader with open mined behavior finds that people around him are much comfortable, contributing and growth oriented bringing in new ideas and market inputs to thrive on, new opportunities to encash and where not be over enthusiastic so as to evade losses.

Gabriel, The leader with overwhelming mindset of dominating authority has seen many good employees leaving him proving that they did not exit the organization but a bad management or manager. Some joined the competitors incurring a bigger or smaller business losses. Even now they don’t think of coming back to the same organization or the leader. He is in consistent search of good people who can help him to grow his business but not ready to be kind, supportive or a place of good employment for them.

Authority is responsibility rather than facility

Authority is really intoxicating for the leaders who are not ready to wait, watch and understand the psychology of business and their people before discussing, advancing and establishing any thought process to run the business. Their sole pattern of leading the business is to exercise their authority to get the results achieved but not to focus on why the people are not able to accomplish what is expected from them. Leaders who are genuinely interested in their people and invest considerable time and energy to develop, understand and uplift them always achieve better and extraordinary results. They not only excel in their professional lives but also are respected for their encouraging aura.

World, Businesses and people need such leaders who understand and practice their authority to bring out new and encouraging outcomes and set innovative and motivating standards. For some it sounds like philosophy but the unvarnished fact is this only. Time and again great leaders have proven that it is not necessary to change people but to change their mindsets which positively alters the way people think about and contribute to business, society, family and their respective countries.

Practical habits to take our leadership to a higher level of IMPACT

At the end lets find out some of the practices to become good and productive LEADER to wield our authority so that we offer constructive outcome to our businesses and teams and incur least or no loss of good employees and teams.

1. 1.?????Before using authority think about the possible outcomes of the communication we do with our teams.

2.?????Before sounding authoritative put your 100% into listening to your teams’ pain and issues.

3.?????Consider that the we as a leader may not know some facts as closely as any or our team mates does that.

4.?????Find relevance not in the suggestion but in the intentions of your team.

5.?????You always have the right to reject the suggestions but it must be done gracefully so that next time the same team can come back to you with full confidence and better solutions.

6.?????Be confident that by listening to you team does not degrade your position but always raises the respect the team mates carry in their minds for you.

7.?????More than your ego and authority, focus on the mutual benefits which will eventually bring more success, peace and accolades.

8.?????Find reason to praise your team mates even for a little thing they do good, that automatically boosts your respect and their confidence and motivation to work with you.

9.?????Focus on the mistake not on the person. The same person who might have committed one or more mistakes would also have solved many critical problems impossible to be unknotted by others.

10.??Be sure that you can make a great influence and difference with your accommodating and inclusive leadership. The dominating leadership can win the task yet loose the people. Great leadership sometime may lag behind the task but develop an irresistible team that are future ready and challenge proof.

There is no dearth of exemplary leaders and accumulating the knowledge of good leadership, but definitely the famine of leaders who want to alter their leadership style and practices so that they can be remembered and acknowledged as one of the stupendous leaders in their organizations, society and surrounding. What people or team says about a leader on his face has no value, but what they speak about the leader when he is absent is the real worth of a leader.

I hope and am confident that we all make such leaders who empower, acknowledge and inspire their team, not just exert our authority for gaining short term success and rewards.

Watching you Smiling, Alokk Joshi

All images courtesy : www.pixabay.com