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.