Outsmart Chaos 120: The Authority Trap
When leadership avoids the weight of people
“I’m here for the title. Not the money. Not the team. Just the authority.”
I’ve heard versions of that line too many times.
From executives who say they didn’t get where they are because of people, but despite them.
One told me outright:
“I took a pay cut for this title. I only plan to be in it for two years.”
That isn’t leadership.
It’s ego wearing a nameplate.
The Deception of Control
You can manage systems remotely.
But people require proximity.
In my own technical career, this lesson came slowly. As a DC on the DiSC assessment — strong in direction and analysis, low in relational drive- I often defaulted to building systems that worked rather than building relationships that lasted.
I believed structure would lead people. It didn’t.
I was chasing clarity through systems when the real clarity comes through connection.
Leadership swings between those two poles: clarity through structure, and clarity through connection.
And the truth? The connection side always carries more weight.
Because systems may align processes.
But only the connection aligns people.
Self-Contained Leadership
Leadership without connection becomes what I call self-contained leadership.
It’s the kind that carries title like armor - protecting image instead of influence.
It’s fragile, easily threatened, and obsessed with being the smartest in the room. It’s leadership that is built for image, not for impact. And it always collapses under pressure.
But authentic leadership isn’t about proving intelligence.
It’s about creating rooms where others can think, decide, and grow.
Reclaiming Leadership Depth
If leadership becomes self-contained, the antidote is proximity.
Not performative connection. Real, consistent presence.
Walk the floor. Ask questions you don’t already know the answers to.
Slow down enough to see who’s carrying more than their share.
Leadership depth doesn’t come from authority.
It comes from awareness.
When you truly see and hear your people, you gain the context that systems can’t show you: what’s breaking, what’s burning out, what’s barely holding on.
Connection doesn’t make you weaker. It makes you accurate.
True leadership is proximity with purpose: staying close enough to guide, far enough to grow others.
Closing Thought
When leadership stops being about people, it stops being leadership.
The moment you trade connection for control, your title starts working against you.
Authority might look like power.
But proximity is what earns trust.
RZLTE | Strength under pressure. Clarity through chaos.
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