Authority comes with leadership. It provides leaders the power to make decisive decisions, give orders, and uphold standards. Yet, if mismanaged, it becomes the gateway drug that leads to abuse and downfall.
Authority has profound effects on behavior and outcomes. In one of the most famous studies, psychologist Stanley Milgram found that 65 percent of participants obeyed an authority figure’s instructions even when it meant causing apparent harm to another person. In the workplace, only 21 percent of employees strongly agree their leaders manage them in a way that motivates them (Gallup, 2023).
Clearly, authority, while necessary, carries significant risks when leaders lean on it too heavily.
Abused Authority in Real Life
Take Mark, an executive appointed to a senior leadership role. He came from outside a large organization and from the beginning of his tenure, the feedback from direct reports was consistent: “He makes his authority felt. He wants you to know who ultimately makes the decisions.”
Mark’s team described meetings where every decision, big or small, had to go through him. If a direct report suggested an idea, his response was often, “That’s not how I want it done.”
While a healthy respect for authority can sometimes be positive, in this case it had the opposite of Mark’s intended effect. Instead of inspiring action and progress, he promoted dissension and politics. Team members began looking for opportunities to undermine his leadership and reject his authority.
As you might imagine, it didn’t end well for Mark or his organization. In less than two years, Mark was fired and the culture was at an all-time low. What Mark didn’t understand was that authority can command obedience, but it cannot inspire trust.
Authority can command obedience, but it cannot inspire trust.
What Causes Leaders to Make Their Authority Felt?
Leaders rarely default to authority without reason. It typically stems from one of four sources: perfection, preference, pressure, or pride.
Perfection: The belief that anything less than flawless execution reflects poorly on the leader. It fosters micromanagement and turns leaders into controllers rather than coaches.
Perfection turns leaders into controllers instead of coaches.
Preference: Imposing personal style over performance. Leaders confuse comfort with effectiveness, which limits creativity and turns people into followers of process rather than critical thinkers.
Pressure: Deadlines, financial targets, and external demands can push leaders back to command-and-control. Under stress, trust is often the first casualty.
Pride: Authority is enforced not to help the team succeed but to protect a leader’s ego. Pride makes leadership about the leader, not the team.
When pride drives authority, leadership becomes about the leader, not the team
Authority vs. Influence
Most managers confuse authority and influence, but they shape outcomes in completely different ways.
Authority comes from position. It’s granted by job title or role. People comply because they feel they have to.
Influence comes from behavior. It’s earned through actions and relationships. People follow because they want to.
The best leaders know authority is not evil—it’s necessary, especially in moments of crisis or safety. But they spend most of their energy building influence.
As John Maxwell put it: “Leadership is not about titles, positions, or flowcharts. It’s about one life influencing another.”
Closing
Authority comes with leadership. If someone depends on you in any way, you are called to lead. The question isn’t whether you have authority, but how often you need to use it.
The better and more effective leader you are, the less you will need to exercise authority. The measure of leadership is not how often you use authority, but how rarely you need it.
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About the Author: John Eades is the CEO of LearnLoft and The Sales Infrastructure. He was named one of LinkedIn’s Top Voices. John is also the author of Building the Best: 8 Proven Leadership Principles to Elevate Others to Success. You can follow him on Instagram @johngeades.