The Paradox of Authority
Level 4: Serious Player
It's time for me to write.
Time for me to publish.
It's all on the line.
Thousands of eyes around the world are tuning in to see what I write.
Will I lift them up?
Will I let them down?
Will I give some new key insight of understanding to unlock something within themselves they can't yet see but for a lack of the right perspective?
I look at the blank page.
It's all on my shoulders.
All that Authority I must live up to.
These are MY words you're reading and paying attention to. This is The Guardian Academy.
And it's all up to me.
Will I meet the expectation?
Or will I shed everything in one big f(#)k you to the mantle of Authority?
There’s a problem here.
If I believe that I need to be an Authority in all that I say and do because of the position that I’m in, and I chose to act with that in mind, then I shut myself off from the growth and discovery that comes with learning and uncertainty.
I show up to perform a role, rather than show up to unravel something new.
The Position of Authority
There's something that happens when you step into the field of entrepreneurialism. When you start a business. When you attain a point where people listen to you and you represent a voice. You inevitably end up in a position where you are leading people.
Whether that's people working in your business, on your team, or the prospects and customers who decide that whatever you are doing resonates enough with them that they need to follow you and listen to what you say.
You are put into a position of Authority.
Many many articles ago I wrote about the dynamic where you can end up thrust into a position of scrutiny, not in terms of people judging/criticizing what you are doing, but in the terms of scrutiny that comes as an obligation to those who follow you.
Of those who emulate you.
Kids are the easiest example.
No matter what you do, your kids will emulate you. Because in the beginning you are all they know. You are how they figure out how to be and grow in the world. So they take on whatever shape/form you show.
When you're thrust into those roles of being seen as a leader, inevitably people look up to what you are doing. They watch. They digest. They maybe even learn and mirror.
Sometimes that's what happens.
Sometimes it feels like that's what happens.
It feels like, if you're in a position where people pay attention to what you say and you do that you are in a position of being a leader who is emulated. You feel like you're in a position of Authority.
That you have to behave in a certain way to meet that Authority.
And it can be difficult to move forward in that.
When you are laden with the responsibility of authority, now there can be an internal drive to meet that. Whether that's a forward moving motivation (you want to grasp that mantle of Authority and use it) or it's a push of obligation (you recognize the natural Authority that comes with a position and feel like you need to meet those expectations), now your ideas and actions are colored by the lens of that position.
Not only are there internal forces at work, but there are external forces as well.
The examples of Authority you see elsewhere which we mirror in our own attempts to claim or uphold Authority. The experts telling us that in order to be a leader and have a following we must claim Authority.
Makes sense right?
If you want a business, you need prospects and customers who follow what you do, therefore you are a leader. And you Lead with Authority right? So in order to have a business you must willingly put yourself into that position of Authority and therefore you must be Authoritative in what you say and do.
Doesn't even need to be a business. If you feel like you need people to listen to you, to pay attention, to see you in a certain way.
I think this is one of the reasons I am frequently exhausted of social media.
Authorities everywhere!
"Thought leaders" everywhere!
"Experts" everywhere!
Post after post after post claiming this is the way things are done. If you do X then Y will happen. If you want the result you're after you have to do this.
Look,
On the surface it seems like not a bad idea. You want an audience? Be an authority. People naturally look to authorities because it makes decision making easier. If you put your choice of action into other people's hands, then it's not your fault when shit goes wrong.
But there's a paradox here.
Because if you make yourself an authority, you invariably end up limiting yourself from change and growth.
For toots and giggles I asked GPT what Authority is.
Got a pretty good answer:
"Authority can be understood as a blend of power, knowledge, and respect that enables an individual or entity to influence others and make decisions that are recognized and followed by others ... it involves being recognized as a trusted, reliable source of knowledge and guidance."
I think the defining characteristic of Authority is that it is something which is bestowed by the perception of others. You become an Authority in other people's eyes when they decide that they trust you, that you are a reliable source of knowledge and guidance ...
And I'll add - around a specific subject.
I think the specificity of the subject is important. Authorities are seen as such around their specific expertise.
But what happens when you look at yourself and start to think, I need to be an Authority? I need to act like an Authority. I need to behave with Authority. Everything I do needs to be done in a way which evokes Authority.
We look at others and we think "that person is an Authority," and then we either desire that status for ourselves, or we think in order to "influence others, be recognized, and followed" that we need to be an Authority, or even that if people might see us as an Authority we have to meet the expectation or lose them.
And so in our observation of others we are recognizing and bestowing Authority and then in order to claim that, or uphold that for ourselves we mirror or manufacture the behavior which most closely associates with what we recognize in that status:
Expertise. Guidance. Knowledge. All around a specific subject.
No wonder we, as a group, as a people, are inclined more towards a focus on THINGS - on tactics, and tools - because they are the most easily demonstrable examples of expertise. It's easier for me to demonstrate my knowledge and expertise if I show you how to use a hammer in a certain way. When all the while the most impactful understanding for you may actually come from learning why you'd use the hammer in the first place.
(It’s that whole Chauffeur Knowledge1 thing)
But,
How can you learn why a hammer is important for YOU?
Our definition of learning, in The Guardian Academy...
…is "same situation, different behavior."
That is, you can only show that you have learned something by exhibiting a different behavior in the same situation.2
Classic example: Hand on the stove. You walk up to a stove, it's red, you touch it, ouchie. You walk up to another stove, it's red .... do you touch it? If you don't touch it, your behavior has changed, you learned something.
In other words, we can't learn until we are taking action. Knowledge is not learning. It is accumulated information. It can inform learning.
But it is itself not learning.
Learning also demands that you enter situations with uncertainty. It demands you enter situations not knowing what exactly is going to happen, with the purpose of discovering what happens so that you can use that discovery to inform and possibly change your behavior.
That is learning and growth. That is the process we use to change our lives, to bring us closer to what we want.
So, if you are bestowing knowledge, demonstrating expertise on a particular subject ... if you are exhibiting the characteristics of Authority ... then you are NOT learning.
Because Authority is a static state.
It is a judgement upon you by others in a moment in time.
That you know something, and that you can probably help other people know those things.
Authority is built upon demonstration of specific knowledge and understanding. In my experience and observation Authority often has a dynamic of dogmatism. After all it's easier to be seen as an Authority if you are presenting definitive ways that things are.
Perhaps that framework is even necessary to intentionally create Authority.
But either way, if you find yourself feeling like you need to meet the expectations of Authority I think it is likely you'll end up shoehorning yourself into definitive and possibly dogmatic points of view.
What happens then if you are trying to be an Authority on a subject and you discover evidence to the contrary on those definitive points.
"This is how it is."
"You can only be successful if you build a funnel" - that certainly sounds authoritative.
The problem is, if you hold up this mantle of Authority, whether willingly because you want that power, or unwillingly because you think your position demands that you speak and act with Authority ...
What happens when new data presents itself to unseat the understanding upon which you have built your Authority?
You can't accept that new understand without shedding your Authority.
You can't learn and grow if you hold onto Authority. At least, perhaps we can say, the way most people treat and handle Authority.
Authority is a Performance
What's the point of Authority again?
To appear to be an expert. To look like the leader. To be someone that others chose to follow because you look like you know a lot more than they do, and you look like you know a lot more than anyone else they can find, with respect to a specific subject.
Why is writing a book such a popular move amongst entrepreneurs?
Because a book can be a tool of Authority. Someone who is the published author of their own ideas isn't like anyone else - they have a published book about them and their ideas.
But what is a book if not just a stack of information? What's the difference between a book and a set of blog posts? Or a bunch of emails?
Is information knowledge?
Is information leadership?
Is information itself authority?
Information is everywhere.
How can it be special?
I think on the surface it can only appear special. The information in it might end up feeling special if it reveals new understanding - but it being in a book had nothing to do with that.
But because it's in a book, there's a greater weight of Authority - because of the appearance. Not everyone has a published book ... you must be an Authority.
None of this is to say that Authority is bad or not useful.
Authority certainly appears useful as an entrepreneur. As anyone in a position to be leading others.
If I want someone to pay me $25k to build out their email marketing strategy, am I going to have an easier time if I show up just as myself, or if I show up as the guy who has a published book about my unique approach?
Am I going to have an easier time if I'm just some dude cold emailing, or am I going to have an easier time if I have a lot of people following me, listening to what I say, and telling others that I do good work?
Authority is not substance. It is appearance. It is a performance.
Doesn't mean it isn't useful.
But remember again, what is Learning and Growth? What is the process we use to become more effective in the world, to become more ourselves, to live the life we desire and grow?
It isn't appearance.
It's behavior. It's behavior change in context. It's behavior change in context in which you have to exhibit initially a clear lack of knowing.
In order to learn you have to approach a situation without the goal of presenting an appearance.
Learning happens when you approach a situation saying "I think this will happen, but I don't know."
Authority happens when you approach a situation and say "this is how it is and how it's done."
Learning is not demonstration, it's the uncertainty of new discovery.
Authority is not discovery, it's certainty of known demonstration.
Authority is a backwards facing momentum on the path you've walked so that you can say "here's how it's done," or if you don't want to be dogmatic, "here's what I've done."
I have historically rejected Authority.
Like a proper millennial.
Authority to me feels so rigid. Without momentum. Defined and limiting ...
And all the best parts of life, learning, growth, discovery, these can't happen if I am also trying to be an Authority.
I can't chose whether other people view me as an Authority or not. But, if I want to manufacture that scenario, I'd pick a specific subject and lay down definitive views on that specific subject.
However, I do not want to do that.
I always want to live my life growing beyond who I am now.
Therefore I cannot limit myself by trying to claim or meet Authority.
The lens which makes the most sense to me is that Authority is a performance. A performance to be conducted in brief moments. If I need to exhibit a particular performance for an outcome, then I may take that mantle of Authority ...
But I will not take that otherwise. I will actively shed Authority (and I must do this with intention because it's so easy to slip into the feeling of obligation to that title).
My writing here on The Guardian Academy is a good example. I try my best to not approach this writing with any sense of Authority. The only way I've been able to do this consistently throughout the past year and more is because I avoid feeling like I need to be correct or specific about anything.
I embrace the unknown.
I put words on the page each day without knowing what actually is going to come of them.
I usually feel completely uncertain that what I'm about to publish is of any use or interest to you. But it's always something I had to write through to reveal something new, to allow the next step to show itself.
This is all an exploration to me.
Authority and Leadership
I started this with Authority stemming out of positions of Leadership.
But,
I do not think Authority is Leadership.
I think most people see Leadership as a seat of Authority. You are a Leader and therefore you must be an Authority in order to lead people.
This does not feel right to me.
Leaders must make decisions. Leaders must have people who follow them.
These things are true.
I think it's also true that we can see Leaders as Authority. But I don't think it's true that claiming Authority makes you a Leader.
Authority is a state that is bestowed upon you by others as a perception of you in a moment in time.
Leadership is about letting go, and striving forward into uncertainty.
Since Authority is a state of certainty, and Leadership a state of uncertainty, they cannot be made to exist at the same time.
Inevitably, at the forefront of any movement is something knew and changing, whether that's a single project, whether that's a business, whether that's your life. No matter how you parse it out, the future is unknown and therefore uncertain.
In order to Lead into the future you must be willing to take steps into the unknown before everyone else.
And I think the most powerful way to do this,
Is with curiosity.
Curiosity for the unknown, and a trust that you and the people with you will be able to figure it out.
Curiosity is the greatest anathema to the shouldered obligations of Authority and expectations of those who might unknowingly push to define who you should be and how you should show up.
If you let go of those expectations and embrace curiosity for the future, you embrace uncertainty and discovery over all else.
What to make of all this?
My conclusion therefore is, if I value uncertainty, curiosity, and learning, then I need to let go of any mantle of Authority that comes my way. And if it's put upon me in a position, then I need to create and move forward in a way that aggressively throws the mantle off.
I must shed the sense of obligation to meet those expectations and rather embrace uncertainty and curiosity.
I must go in unprepared.
Write about that which I am uncertain.
Open the door to something existing and happening which I can't yet see.
UNLESS
The situation demands the performance. Like a presentation. Like making a sale. Finite games that need to be won.
There's no wrong here.
Being aware is the gift.
Are you trying to grow, or are you trying to perform?
Do you feel a need to meet an expectation of Authority? What would happen if you let go of that?
Be Useful. Be Present. Love the Journey.
, CMO The Guardian Academy
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Leadership > Authority