By: Eric Betts
Every institution needs authority. Businesses need managers who can make decisions, schools need administrators who can establish expectations, churches need leaders who can provide direction, and communities need people willing to accept responsibility. Authority itself is not the problem. The ethical question is what we do with it once it has been entrusted to us. A title may give us the right to make a decision, but character determines how we make it. There is an important difference between having the authority to do something and having the wisdom to know whether, when, and how that authority should be exercised.
Institutional authority becomes dangerous when leaders begin to view it as personal power rather than entrusted responsibility. A supervisor may have the authority to evaluate an employee, but that authority should never become a means of humiliation. An administrator may establish policies, but policy should not become an excuse for refusing to consider circumstances. A pastor may occupy an influential position, but spiritual leadership should never be used to silence legitimate questions. In every setting, authority affects real people—their livelihoods, opportunities, reputations, confidence, and sometimes the direction of their lives. That is why the greater our authority becomes, the greater our ethical responsibility should become. Power may enlarge our reach, but it should also enlarge our sense of accountability.
There is a spiritual principle beneath this understanding of leadership: what has been placed in our hands has also been placed in our care. Authority is therefore best understood as stewardship. The ethical leader does not continually ask, “What am I allowed to do?” but rather, “What is the right thing to do with the authority I have been given?” Sometimes leadership requires firmness. Difficult decisions must be made, standards must be maintained, and accountability must be expected. Ethical leadership does not mean avoiding these responsibilities. It means exercising them without forgetting the dignity of the people affected by our decisions. Authority reveals character because having the power to impose our will gives us the opportunity to demonstrate that we do not always need to. Restraint, listening, fairness, and compassion are not signs that a leader lacks authority; often they are evidence that the leader has learned how to govern it.
The German-American theologian Paul Tillich argued that power and love should not be understood as opposites; rightly ordered power seeks the flourishing and reunion of what has become separated. His insight reminds us that ethical authority is not demonstrated simply by what leaders have the power to require, but by whether their use of power strengthens rather than diminishes the people and communities entrusted to their care.
This also has much to do with vocational success. We may advance because of talent, education, experience, or opportunity, but remaining worthy of leadership requires something more. People remember how they were treated by those who possessed power over some part of their lives. They remember the employer who listened, the teacher who was fair, the community leader who treated everyone with respect, and the person in authority who could have made a difficult situation worse but instead chose wisdom. Positions eventually change and titles eventually belong to someone else, but the impact of how we used our authority remains. True success is not simply gaining enough authority to lead others; it is developing enough character to be trusted with the authority we have gained. When our leadership leaves people and institutions stronger rather than diminished, authority has fulfilled its highest ethical purpose.
By: Eric Betts
Assistant Director, Curtis Coleman Center for Religion Leadership and Culture at Athens State University
