Authority Isn’t Leadership
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This week’s topic was inspired by a quote I came across recently:
“Controlling others is what weak people think power looks like” — Kalen Dion.
It’s so true.
Leadership and managing others is not about having power over other people, or being “important.” And it’s certainly not about other people serving you.
Leadership that is intoxicated with control and authority over others is the weakest, most insecure version of it.
It has to be said.
As a leader, you are in service of your team. You are there to support and lift up your people, guide them, and help them to thrive.
If you lead from a place of authority and control, people will do what you tell them to, but they will never really respect or love you. They will fear you, but they won’t give effort beyond what they have to, and they ultimately won’t care about you or the company.
Leaders with high EQ know that their role is to support others on the team and serve them, not the other way around.
Leading from a place of support and service of others fosters trust and stronger, healthier relationships, It also generates discretionary effort from people; which means people choose to try harder and care more than just what the bare minimum requires.
In order to inspire and get the best from your team you have to focus on making them successful, not just yourself.
You can’t force goodwill, you have to earn it.
The reality about work is that people get to choose how much they care, and how much effort they give beyond the bare minimum in order to not get fired. You can’t force people to try harder or care, those things only come when people give them of their own volition.
Getting high on controlling other’s isn’t leadership. Show up for your team if you want them to show up for you.
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This article was created by Galen Emanuele for the #culturedrop. Free leadership and team culture content in less than 5 minutes a week. Check out the rest of this month's content and subscribe to the Culture Drop at https://bit.ly/culturedrop