Being in Charge vs. Leading

Change agents are leaders, though they typically do not have direct authority over the people that need to change. This is a real challenge for new Green Belts and Blacks Belts. They often tell me that they would just prefer to tell someone what to do. They believe, incorrectly, that if only they had the force of an authority position then change would be so much easier. Anyone that has been in a top executive role knows this is rarely true and authority and leadership are not the same thing.?

This thought about leadership versus authority came to me in an unexpected place. It is an example of why you always must pay attention because you never know where you will uncover a new point of wisdom. I was recently holding a board of review (BOR) for a boy scout. These BORs are used to confirm that the scout is ready to advance their rank to the next level. This scout was middle school age. We asked him why the troop has a hard time finding scouts to lead. He provided an insightful statement. He stated, “Many of the boys in the troop like the idea of being in charge, but don’t want to do the work of leadership.” When I asked him what exactly he meant by this statement he told us that it is easy to tell someone what to do (and fun to have that power) but it is hard to motivate groups of people to accomplish a large task. I complimented him on his thoughtfulness and insight. His statement is broadly true of many organizations. In fact, motivating large groups of people is downright frustrating, just as Green Belt and Blacks often complain.

First, let us address authority. Authority is important if you want to be taken seriously. When authority is unclear, people are disorganized, left to their own agendas, and little is accomplished. That is about all the positives I have to say about authority. Never confuse authority and leadership. I have seen countless organizations where influence and motivation come from people that do not have direct authority. This is because authority is only a small component of real leadership. Just as the scout explained, leadership is about motivating groups of people toward some end. Authority only deals with telling people what to do. All too often I see authority used to have people complete things “your way” or just used to point out the flaws in others. When people gain authority they often think, “Now I can apply my will to make all the changes that are important to me.” They are sadly mistaken. The power from authority does not go far enough to create sustainable change. Worse, it creates dependence on the authoritarian and distrust among those under the individual. One last note on this, I have seen the remains of too many organizations run by a hard-nosed authoritarian leader and the ruins of what remains when this leader exits the organization. It is further evidence that authority is not leadership, or as my insightful young scout said, “People like to be in charge, but they don’t like to lead.”?

Now let us contrast authority with real leadership. Training Within Industry (TWI) describes leaders holistically as having knowledge and skill. It is interesting to me that authority is not directly mentioned at all. It is further interesting to note that knowledge and skill are earned through experience and careful study. People are not anointed with knowledge and skill as they are with authority. This is really important if you think about leadership. Think for a moment, would you rather follow someone out of respect for their knowledge and skill or because you were told, “you have to” follow them? Given the goal of motivating large groups of people, which path is more effective? The answer is obvious. Real leadership is the only sustainable path to change.

People like to be in charge, but they do not like to lead. Leading is much harder than being in charge. As I previously mentioned, being in charge or having authority is typically provided simply by position. In large organizations we often see it as, impress the right person and you are given the power of authority. Easy. In contrast, gaining experience and wisdom takes time. It requires asking questions. It requires thinking about the answers and honestly evaluating our actions and their outcomes. It is physically and often emotionally draining. This is hard! To motivate people to a purpose, a good leader must be a patient instructor. A leader must have experience with the subject matter to be respected as an instructor. A leader must be able to compose a compelling message that motivates people on the merits of the purpose. A leader must ultimately hold themselves accountable for the outcome rather than simply holding those they hold influence or authority over accountable. I will say it again. This is hard!

These are the skillsets that I teach to change agents. Change agents rarely have authority. Successful change agents are always leaders that do not require direct authority. I say this from my own personal experience. In my 25 years of work, I have never had direct authority over more than ten people. Yet, I have led thousands of people to accomplish changes to how they work, to how they execute on solutions for customers, to implement new tools, to change their organizational designs, and to successfully transform their businesses. I know that I am a leader because of the results. My advice for anyone currently involved in driving change is to think little of the authority you might desire and instead think long and hard about the knowledge and skill sets that you will need to be successful as a leader of change.