In our current culture’s vocabulary the word ‘Authority” can be seen as such a pariah word. It carries with it all types of assumptions and negative connotations but effective leaders and brave organizations are not afraid of it and in fact make sure that they have given it considerable thought.

Our organizational structures often flow from and even depend on authority. Some organizations, like the military, understand this well and have very clear “published” lines of authority. In such organizations, these lines are reinforced through customs like salutes, uniforms, and rank – or what is called a “chain of command”. Naturally, it is critical for the military to have clear lines of authority. When things get chaotic, and life or death decisions need to be made quickly, everyone needs to know who’s giving the order so everyone can then act swiftly to carry it out.

In contrast to a military organization, many commercial organizational charts have many solid and dotted lines (where these exist at all of course) and this can often signal both dysfunction and confusion. No individual can easily serve two masters and where there is confused authority, other authority moves in to fill the gap and ultimately decision-making slows and progress is stalled.

In general, many of our business organizations have lost control of the need to set authority limits sensibly (and not just by assigning spending limits on managers). This occurs either because managers or executives are confused or at least unclear about who does what and who is accountable or because they have chosen to leave the authority structure too open and ill defined and therefore unclear to all and sundry at a team level.

Managers and executives should have power to make a range of appropriate decisions within their defined remit and to be leaders of the people who report to them. However, most organizations have confused this authority so badly that fear of making decisions can creep in. As a result, many people with authority don’t make the decisions they should and many who shouldn’t have authority at all, or need to have it limited in specific ways, can make decisions that go well beyond the bounds that are reasonable.

In order to be as effective as possible, organizations need to think much more carefully about their authority structure. This means thinking about what an optimal commercial “chain of command” should look like ideally and then making adjustments from the current system as necessary. In addition, it is worth taking stock of every current leaders approach to assess who is using their authority well (and how they are doing this) and who is not using their authority well (and why). By doing this, we are able to promote good leadership as a role model to all people managers and start to create the appropriate accountable culture that will work well.

Summary

Authority has negative connotations in our culture, but it is absolutely necessary. I am not advocating for a militaristic command and control culture that doesn’t fit with the work environment most American workers enjoy today. Rather, I am suggesting that it’s crucial for managers to know the bounds of the authority they have — and must use — to lead, coach, and make decisions for the best interests of both their people and their organization. More importantly, that authority must not be confused. Clear lines of authority are therefore critical to ensure that we get the best from all of our leaders and the teams they lead.

Related Resources

• Org culture booklet
• Building success booklet
• Org culture and teams booklet
• Ethical Behavior Assessment