LibraryPatternsStep Into Your AuthorityI over-explain my reasoning for every direction I giv…
Problem
Toward Service

I over-explain my reasoning for every direction I give because I feel I need to justify having authority.

Part of the pattern: Step Into Your Authority
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The path forward
  1. 1Notice the urge to over-explain
  2. 2Give one direction simply
  3. 3Trust it doesn't need justifying
One thing to try this week
Give one clear direction this week without explaining why and notice what happens.
Related problems
Among more senior leaders I shrink — I defer, I stay quiet, I do not claim my seat at the table even when I have earned it. My authority that is solid with my own team evaporates the moment I am the junior one in the room.Delegation requires giving away authority along with the task. The task I can give away. The authority that goes with it I cannot release. The result is delegation without authority — which does not actually work.Every time I exercise authority I feel like the bad guy even when what I am doing is right and necessary.From the outside I present authority clearly. Inside I am frequently uncertain about whether I am the right person for this role, whether the decisions are right, whether the direction is correct.I act as though being in charge means always having the answer, so I bluff or deflect rather than say I do not know. Pretending to a certainty I do not have is exhausting, and my team can tell when I am winging it.I am the one who ends meetings. If someone else tries to close the meeting I experience a mild but real discomfort. The small ritual of ending the meeting is about authority.

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