The Executive

How Your Authority Transforms Individuals, Families, Corporations and Communities.

?One main reason I believe I have spent the majority of my career in a position of leadership and authority is because of my failures in life. I am more sure of that today than ever before.

It makes more sense to me now whereas before I was always puzzled by, “why me?” But I have grown in my understanding of how individuals like me can serve as an example of the possibility to break with the past things, people and places, and mindsets that had power over me to do things I shouldn’t have done, go places I didn’t need to go, and become someone other than the real me. We don’t like to admit that. Nobody wants to think of themselves as a puppet on a string being manipulated about. But that is what it amounts to when we are traveling through daily life unaware of our true self.

?Thankfully, I came to a number of hardships in my life that caused me to come to myself and realize I wanted to change and be my true self. But along with the lessons of hardship came a certain humility about self. A feeling of unworthiness. And a feeling of being undeserving and morally unqualified for a position of leadership and authority. Consequently, I never asked for, nor sought to be, in a position of leadership or authority. Yet, this is the position I have found myself in for the past forty plus years of my career.

And for what it’s worth, I want to share with you some of the lessons, insights, and perspectives I’ve gained from my seat as the boss. The person in charge. The leader. The Executive.

?Occupying this position of authority is a privilege. An honor. And it should be treated as such. This is why people in authority are important. Not important in and of themselves, but because of the position they hold and the potential they possess to be a powerful presence that can be transformative to serve others seeking a change, self-discovery, and a more meaningful purpose in life.

But before I discuss the transformative power of authority, let’s look at some of the basics about being in a position of leadership and authority.

?To Have Authority

What does it mean to ‘have authority?’ Who really has authentic authority and how is it obtained? How should it be used? What is the purpose of authority? When is authority most effective and when is it most abused?

As an Executive these are the things often taken for granted, forgotten, not studied, not asked, or understood. There is a lot of talk and literature on “leadership”, but not on the essence of leadership, which is being in an authoritative position and not becoming authoritarian.

I have encountered time and again over my career people in authority that were incompetent, unqualified, and simply did not belong in this position. This is not a matter of a lack of technological knowledge, or incompetence in administrative paperwork or finances. I’m talking about the social side of the business and how they treat people and handle difficult people situations.

To them, being in a position of authority meant to control people, cause fear, take advantage of this privilege, embrace an entitlement mentality, and abuse their authority by manipulating people and money for their own aggrandizement. Unfortunately, one does not have to look far to witness this abuse of authority in politics, business, education, and religion.

1.??????? What does it mean to have authority?

By Websters definition it means power to influence, or command thought, opinion, or behavior.

That is an accurate description of certain aspects of authority, particularly with the words “power” and “command”. Those are privileges that few people can handle. If one is not mindful, you can become drunk with power. This abuse is as old as the beginning of time as the book of Ezekiel tells us:

“Because your heart is lifted up, and you have said, ‘I am a god, I sit in the seat of God, in the midst of the seas’, yet you are a man, and not God, though you set your heart as the heart of God…With your wisdom and your understanding you have gotten yourself riches…gold and silver into your treasuries; By your great wisdom and by your merchandise have you increased your riches, and your heart is lifted up because of your riches…”

?This is what can happen with those who obtain power by their authority. It does not end well: “By the multitude of your riches you were filled with violence in your midst, and you have sinned; therefore, I will cast you as a profane thing from the mountain of God…” (Ezek. 28. 2-5, 16)

?I learned many years ago from one of my mentors when he said, “For every 100 leaders that can handle adversity, only one can handle prosperity.”

2.??????? What then is the proper use of authority?

The power of authority is to serve those you lead. It can be expressed in several ways by providing liberty, guidance, justice, safety, security, knowledge, and opportunity. All these things, and more, can be provided by the person in charge. By the person who has the power to influence and command that the right things be done to the right people in the right way. This is servant-leadership at its finest when the person in authority uses their power to enhance and edify the people they lead.

3.??????? True authority sees what others don’t see, understands what others don’t understand, and knows what others don’t know.

Why is this true? Because others are not in your position. They don’t have the “balcony” view that the leader has. Therefore, they can’t see, understand, or know because they are not in a position to see, and not privy to all the information to give them a full understanding of the bigger picture. What does this mean and why is it important?

?This speaks to the importance of transparency, accountability, and humility. True authority reveals, shares, delegates, admits mistakes, seeks constructive feedback, and is open to change. We do not only delegate authority and responsibility to others, but we also delegate anxiety to give them an understanding of the bigger picture, the consequences and reality of tough situations. We do not use our power to hide, sneak, lie, cheat, or deceive the people, or the institution, we have pledged to lead with integrity, character and competence.

4.??????? Authority can be delegated but not equally shared. Someone must have the final responsibility. The final decision. The final word. That is authority.

?5.??????? How is true authority obtained?

Real authority is not obtained by appointment. Appointed authority is not anointed authority. Appointed authority means the people you lead, or placed under your supervision, follow you because they have to whether they want to or not, or like you or not. It’s their job. Anointed authority is granted to you by the people you lead because of who you are; your character and competence and the respectful and humble way is which you serve their needs with your power and authority.

6.??????? Authority is obtained through obedience. Obedience to a higher authority.

Another way authority is obtained is by your personal obedience to conscience. Your conscience is a function of your human spirit. Your human spirit is intuitive and connects you with what some refer to as “the unseen realm”, or in other words, the spirit world. Your conscience serves to inform you from that unseen realm of what is right and what is wrong. We all know, intuitively, when we have said, thought, felt, and done the wrong thing. The question is whether or not we choose to listen to the conviction our conscience is speaking to us about and decide to correct, or not correct the situation. It’s that “still small voice” within.

When you listen to it and act accordingly you can be trusted with increased authority because you are leading yourself in secret as you would lead others in public and avoiding the hypocrisy we see today by so many of our public leaders. They are the result of not listening to their conscience, thereby dulling it’s voice and left to their own vanity and self-deception, which always causes their followers to suffer loss in one way or another.

7.??????? Authority is accountable to the law. When this principle is violated, corruption has replaced real and true authority.

8.??????? Authority is having insight and foresight. What you predict usually comes to pass.

You have a deeper understanding of common knowledge, and you employ that understanding as wisdom to defeat strong internal or external opposition. It’s better to win a battle without firing a shot than to blow everything and win but have to rebuild lost resources all over again.

?Executive leadership

1. You are the guide. Your employees, clients, and colleagues are the heroes of the story you are part of. Your role is to improve their skills, knowledge, understanding and quality of life even if it means they will surpass your own success and influence.
2. Don’t be a hater of failure: failure is our fertilizer for future success. If you aren’t failing check the size of your faith, vision and risk taking
3. Working on vs working in your org: difference between the role of a leader vs. the role of a manager. Both are necessary. The leader knows the “why”. The manager knows the “how”.
4. Leaders are readers: if you’re not constantly reading, you’re not consistently growing. Remember: if you can read but don’t read you are no better of than those who can’t read.
5. Stay in your circle of control not your circle of concern: Leadership is influence. I can’t control the things I’m concerned about. But I can influence the things I control like my attitude and choices in difficult circumstances.
6. Leadership is character: we should not try to talk our way out of problems we behave ourselves into.
7. We can control our choices but not the consequences of our choices.

?Executive Director Notes:

1. You don’t have to know everything.
2. You don’t have to control everything to be in charge of everything.
3. Your authority must grow beyond appointed.
4. Authority is an earned trust others invest in you.
5. Authority and anxiety must be distributed.
6. Your “I” must remain separated from the pressure of the “we”. In other words, it takes courage as a leader to maintain your “I” when everybody else is jumping on the politically correct, group think bandwagon of “we”. Your job and role is not to always be liked, but to always lead from the values and principles you stand for to protect the integrity of your institution, company, or organization. ?
7. Leadership is carving out more than your own path. We use our power and authority to help others find their own voice and path of success in service to others.
8. Vision sees. Creation thinks. Innovation breaks.

?Finally, to address my initial point, there are two stories I read that had a profound effect on me that illustrate what I mean about the transformative power of authority.

?First, during my search for self (though I wasn’t thinking of it like that back then) I was reading books by Carlos Castaneda, the UCLA professor, and his journey with a Yaqui Indian in Mexico he called, Don Juan. Second, I also read the autobiography of Malcolm X and his transformative experience while he was in prison.

?I point out these two life stories not to elaborate about the particular belief system they each encountered. My point is the individual they encountered that “freed” them from the old path they had been committed to and how they were guided to a new path that transformed their life. That is what I’m talking about: The essence of transformation by a personal encounter with authoritative individuals.

?True authority reaches deep in its affect and impartation to those it encounters. It’s something one must experience, rather than trying to explain it in words.

My own personal encounter was with the risen Christ. It happened on September 5, 1980. I have never been the same person since. I didn’t understand it at the time, but that encounter imparted an anointing of authority to me that I was not seeking or aware of. But it has brought me to where I am today in spite of all my immaturity, shortcomings, mistakes and ignorance along my professional journey.

But again, I’m not writing about belief systems (as important as they are). I’m writing about real authority in the leader, the boss, the person in charge. And how it can transform individuals, families, corporations and communities through YOU, the Executive …if you are willing.

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