Practical Authority

We've been looking at ideas around power and authority the past few weeks. So far, we've examined the differences between Positional & Relational Authority, and the healthy Sharing of Authority.  In this installment I want to think about some practical ways that healthy authority can be utilized. To help with this process, I want to touch on two areas of application.

Credit/Blame

In his classic book, Good to Great, Jim Collins has a powerful chapter describing what he calls Level 5 Leaders.  One of the characteristics of these truly great leaders is what they do with taking credit and assigning blame.  In almost every study he conducted, Collins found these leaders were quick to pass along credit to other people on their team or in their company when things went well. Very rarely did they take credit for any successes that were being achieved. In contrast, when things went wrong, they didn't point fingers at others but took the blame for what was happening on themselves, even if they didn't have anything directly to do with the problem. Very rarely did these leaders ever throw anyone else under the bus. In other words, even though these leaders were often the people at the top of the org chart with the most positional authority and maximum power, they gave away as much credit as possible and took as much blame as possible.

Praise/Correction

I wish I could remember where I first heard this approach to using your authority in correcting or giving praise to a teammate, but I've never forgotten it! This adage simply says, "Praise in public. Correct in private." This practical approach to using authority actively looks for opportunities to tell someone you believe in them, or you are grateful for the job they are doing. It can include naming a strength or characteristic of an individual or group for who they are and what they bring to the team or organization.  In contrast, this approach recognizes that whenever you need to give someone some constructive criticism or direction on correcting a behaving or job performance issue, that is best handled in a private settings where there isn't as much of an opportunity for shame or embarrassment to arise.

As you consider these two practical ways to use authority, which area of focus would make the most impact if you were to give it some attention? Is there a particular situation, person or context that comes to your mind where it would be helpful to either give away some credit or take on the blame? What about praise and correction? Who could use a boost right now by giving them some important and authentic praise in front of others? Do you need to give some constructive feedback or make a correction with someone? How could you do that in a strategic way that was more private so you don't bring about an opportunity for embarrassment?

Here's to using our Authority Practically this week!

Be Well,

Stephen

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