Manage as if you have no authority

One of the best pieces of advice I ever received was from one of my mentors at the time I was first promoted to being a manager. He said the following (paraphrased): "I only promote into management those individuals who have already gained the power to manage people. Once they've earned the power then I grant them the authority. Always try to manage through the power you have gained rather than the authority granted."

So what exactly does this mean?

Let me first define what I mean by the words "power" and "authority". These are definitions I will use for the purpose of this posting and are not necessarily the Webster Dictionary definition. Power is the quality one has when people want to listen to you and follow you because you have connected with them and have a positive vision for the team/group/company. Power is something you earn and attract. Authority is when people have to listen to you and follow you because of your position. You could give them a bad review or fire them, for example, when you are "the boss". Authority is something you are given by a group or organization.

Great leaders have always had a following independent of whether they had any authority. Leaders have been made because they already had a tremendous voluntary following. Think of Martin Luther King or Gandhi.

When a mentee of mine has had a strong desire to become a manager/leader and believes they are already ready for the move the first question I ask is: "Are you a 'go-to' person in your company?". In other words do people inside and outside of the mentee's immediate team naturally and spontaneously come and ask him/her for advice or help? This is the first strong indicator of power. If someone is sought after then they clearly have already built up their personal brand and their ability to influence. The larger one's sphere of influence the better leader that person will be and the more success and recognition they'll be able to bring to their team.

A great guideline many managers follow is to promote those individuals already operating at their next level. For example, if a Senior Programmer is already handling their job as if they were a Team Lead then they're ready to be a Team Lead. You've already seen them successful in that role before even being promoted. It's low risk to promote. Makes sense, doesn't it? So too with management. If someone is already leading people without that authority you've got the makings of a natural leader.

Once you have this authority why should you continue to manage as if you don't? For the following 2 reasons:

1. If you continue to manage as if you had no authority you will likely continue to treat people as equals even though you may not be hierarchically. Your team will respect you more because they'll feel you are part of the team and not "above" them.
2. Managing as if you have no authority will keep you in check! It will remind you that leading people is a privilege and not a right. When taking actions that affect them you will work to win over their hearts and not just their minds.

Having a team respect and follow you because they want to will propel both you and them to greater achievements. You will witness much higher productivity, creativity and job satisfaction because people will be inspired to do the work and not be simple followers. That is too much of a great, win-win proposition to pass up.

I'll end with a great quote about authority by Abraham Lincoln although slightly altered per my earlier definition of "authority"):

"Nearly all men can stand adversity but if you want to test a man's character give him [authority]."