All of us know deep in our guts that because I said so, I’m the CEO, and respect the office are all horrible reasons to do something.
Yet some leaders still insist on using authority like a hammer, pounding followers into submission.
After a decade of working in startups, I’ve learned that the best leaders know authority isn’t something you have, it’s something you practice.
Watching the quiet engineer who leads by example, or the stalwart designer who always speaks eloquently for the user, will teach you more about leadership than any book on the topic.
If you want authority—the kind that doesn’t depend on a title—you have to practice leading from the front.