Welcome to the new manager podcast.
I'm your host, Kim nickel. Hello and welcome, I'm glad
you're here. I hope you're doing well.
I want to start with a bit of a celebration today because I have
received my first reviews on my podcast.
Not just the ratings, which I love, but folks actually writing
in their thoughts about why they listen, why they love this
podcast, how it helps them. M.
And it's great because I know you're listening.
I know that you don't always write in but it's really a cool
thing. And it's one of the only ways
that I get to hear directly from my listeners is when you leave a
review. So if that was you I want to
thank you so much and if you hadn't left a review, then
please feel invited to do. So let me know what you love
about the podcast. Let me know how it helps you let
me know. Are you listen?
It would be really cool to hear from you.
Okay? So for today's episode, I wanted
to talk with you about Authority and decision-making.
And the reason, these two things are important in the workplace
is because when we have clarity about who gets to make what
decisions it can reduce ambiguity, it can create more.
He's like we feel anxious. This when we don't know what's
going on and we can feel anxious when we're not sure who who gets
to make what decision. So when there's Clarity around
decision-making, who gets to make the decision, what is the
decision they get to make, when do they get to make it?
It creates like it reduces anxiety, it creates a lot of
clarity. It makes it easier to get work
done and it makes it easier to know what to do when there are
competing priorities. So when there are competing
demands for your time and attention, and the reason
Authority comes into play. I have a very specific way, I
think about Authority and I think of it in its most simple
terms as Authority is having the power to create by declaration.
I'll say it one more time. Authority is the power to create
by declaration like the word author.
Like if you're an author and you are writing a story, you are
creating by declaration, it was a dark and stormy night Once
Upon a Time, long ago, deep in the forest, there lived a tiny
Mouse, you just create things with the power of declaring
them. And this is why a lot of us.
When we're growing up, we encounter a lot.
Of friction and conflict around Authority around someone
declaring. This is so this is your bedtime.
This is what's expected of you. This is the grade that you need
to get. This is how you are supposed to
dress. This is how you're supposed to
be. We as we grow up and start to
develop our own sense of who we are.
We often bump up against authority figures.
People who have the power to just declare things that affect
us. And so very often we have, we
have a very complicated relationship with the word
authority. And it might even carry a lot of
negativity for you or for the experiences that you've had with
people in positions of power, who get to just say, this is
what, this is, what it is, right?
So I want to acknowledge that like if for you, the word
Authority or like an authority figure feels like it's really
Entangled or enmeshed with some really heavy or really complex
feelings or just some difficult experiences.
Totally cool. And I want to invite you to just
look at the front part of that word author and see if that
helps you to connect with like how the word functions and how
I'm using it for the purposes of this podcast because in the
workplace, the other place Authority comes up is in the
sense of who has the power to authorize this and to authorize
again, it's really I have the power to create by declaration
by signing my name on this contract or by granting approval
for this project or granting approval for this you know,
budget request. The question of like who has the
authority who has the power to create by declaration.
How something will We'll go becomes actually very important
for understanding how things function.
How do we work when we don't you know, when we don't know, kind
of who holds that Authority and the other element to
distinguishes that there's formal Authority and informal
Authority. So sometimes we think of power
to make decisions as something that lives in the Somebody has
or the formal position. They have in the organization
that that's one part of it. Like the person is the manager
so they should have the authority to approve this
request. But there's also a more informal
Authority, which is the ability to, you know, create by
declaration even without having a certain Conceit in the
organization or without having a certain title and sometimes you
can think of this as influence, like I don't have the direct
power to make this decision, but I can influence the people who
do and I can do that by understanding their
decision-making process by presenting my perspective in a
compelling Way by showing them, why?
The Proposal I'm putting forward, makes so much sense and
why it's going to help them, you know, to reach their goals and
the company goes like, you know, we can, we can think of it in
those terms but it's really helpful when you're thinking
about authority to number one, realize that you you have more
of it than you think. And this sense of being sort of
self authorizing, I think is really helpful because off.
And we're looking to someone in a formal position of power to
Grant a permission or to get their approval and until we have
that we feel really stuck or really powerless like it's out
of my hands and I find it to be really helpful to continue to
ask. Well where is my authority in
this? What do I have the power to
create by declaration? What do I have the power to
authorize myself to give? Permission to myself for.
And in a situation where there is uncertainty around
decision-making either who gets to make what decision.
When sometimes, simply asking the question and getting
Clarity, taking a pause and saying, hey, let's just pause
for a moment and clarify, like, what is the decision that needs
to be made? And who is it?
That ultimately has the authority to To make that
decision or who would, who would we want to have on board in
making that decision or an implementing that decision?
Sometimes a person has the formal power to make a decision.
But the people that execute that decision and make it real, it's
so important to understand how to recruit them and bring them
on board and have them working with what that Vision is so you
don't have all of this resistance and kind of
roadblocks because people either don't understand or they don't
feel respectfully included in the communication of what's
happening and why like there are so many reasons why someone
makes a decision. But it doesn't really come to
life in an effective way because they probably were only
leveraging, their formal Authority and they didn't
realize or think through how can I and Table.
This decision to come to life through the work of these other
folks. How do we need to communicate
it? How do I need to think about
what they need to know, in order to get on board with us?
Like, there's just this whole other dimension of strategic
thinking that comes into play. So, when you are thinking, in
terms of authority and decision-making.
Oh, and especially. Okay.
So Time is it? We have conversations at work
that can get very confusing because they turn into everyone
sharing opinions about things and having very strong opinions.
But you lose sight of what is the decision that needs to be
made? Are we having this conversation
because it's helping us get closer to a decision because we
know the information that, you know, we were gathering
information or gathering perspective.
So when you pause and just, Ink about.
Okay, like, what is this conversation for?
How, how does this conversation connect with a decision making
process either? What is the decision who gets it
to make it? When does it get to be made?
Are there other perspectives that are valuable to include?
Before we go ahead and make this decision, like that piece.
You want to think through and then the Ready is the piece of
the like, who is the one that gets to authorize this who gets
to declare it into being? And when you have Clarity on
those two pieces, it makes things a lot easier and I will
tell you you know, every organization is organized a
little differently. But every human we're kind of
organized in some very similar ways in the sense like we want
Clarity, we want to feel respected.
Stood me want to know what we're supposed to work on.
We want to know, like how to make decisions if we have
multiple people asking for our time and attention like that,
part of it kind of works the same.
So regardless of what you're facing and your organization
and, you know, within your particular team it would be
interesting. If you notice like how does
Authority function, how does decision making function and
stretch? Just start to wear that lens as
you go through the week and notice in your own work.
And in your own life, is there a place where you can bring more
clarity around the decision? Can you bring more clarity
around? Like who has the authority to
make that decision? Can you create more clarity in
yourself and in your own mind around?
Like, where are you self? Erised where do you get to
declare like this is the decision that I'm making.
How do you get to do that for yourself?
And you know, these topics can get really interesting when we
examine our own internal patterns and fears and
resistance because none of us showed up here, you know, in the
Working World Without first Living through years of engaging
with other humans and we all have learned different lessons
about when it's okay to make decisions and who gets to make
decisions and sometimes it can feel fearful when we are
confronted with a decision that we're afraid to be wrong about
when we're afraid will disappoint people or simply when
you're, you know, just feeling like the person who is your
manager, likes it. Is there the manager?
Shouldn't they want? Shouldn't it be the ones with
Clarity around decision-making? They don't always have Clarity
around decision-making because they are also human and
sometimes they also got caught up in all the human stuff.
So that is all I wanted to share with you today.
These two concepts around Authority and decision-making
around acknowledging. And just being curious about
where is this power to create by declaration?
In the same way that you would, as an author in the same way
that you authorize something, and maybe even in the same way,
you think about authenticity, you know, like, authenticity is
the sense of I get to declare, like, I have the power to create
by declaration, like, this is who I am.
This is what I'm about. And that's my authentic self.
Like I'm just declaring this to you, they all kind of fit
together in a way that I think is quite interesting when we
start to unpack it and look at the layers, so notice how those
show up in your life and look for opportunities to bring more
clarity to bring more curiosity and to bring a lot more kindness
to yourself and to the other humans that you work with.
See you next time when you're more effective at work, you're
happier in your life and when you're happier in your life,
you're more effective. At work, I can help go to my
website. Kim nickel.com and sign up for a
coaching consult, it can get better.