{"id":3185,"date":"2014-05-10T23:39:56","date_gmt":"2014-05-10T18:09:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/skirtstrategies.com\/?p=3185"},"modified":"2015-04-21T08:19:32","modified_gmt":"2015-04-21T02:49:32","slug":"028-podcast-be-clear-about-your-level-of-authority","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.skirtstrategies.com\/podcast\/028-podcast-be-clear-about-your-level-of-authority\/","title":{"rendered":"Be Clear About Your Level of Authority and Delegation &#8211; Podcast 28"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"powerpress_player\" id=\"powerpress_player_6738\"><!--[if lt IE 9]><script>document.createElement('audio');<\/script><![endif]-->\n<audio class=\"wp-audio-shortcode\" id=\"audio-3185-1\" preload=\"none\" style=\"width: 100%;\" controls=\"controls\"><source type=\"audio\/mpeg\" src=\"http:\/\/traffic.libsyn.com\/paththreellc\/028SkirtStrategiesPodcast.mp3?_=1\" \/><a href=\"http:\/\/traffic.libsyn.com\/paththreellc\/028SkirtStrategiesPodcast.mp3\">http:\/\/traffic.libsyn.com\/paththreellc\/028SkirtStrategiesPodcast.mp3<\/a><\/audio><\/div><p class=\"powerpress_links powerpress_links_mp3\" style=\"margin-bottom: 1px !important;\">Podcast: <a href=\"http:\/\/traffic.libsyn.com\/paththreellc\/028SkirtStrategiesPodcast.mp3\" class=\"powerpress_link_d\" title=\"Download\" rel=\"nofollow\" download=\"028SkirtStrategiesPodcast.mp3\">Download<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Katie and Carol talk about Tip 17 from <em><a title=\"What about the book?\" href=\"http:\/\/skirtstrategies.com\/about-skirts\/book\/\" target=\"_blank\">Skirt Strategies: 249 Success T<\/a><\/em><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-3188\" src=\"http:\/\/skirtstrategies.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/bigstock-Stamp-Authorized-With-Red-Text-61752521-300x300.jpg\" alt=\"Stamp Authorized With Red Text On White\" width=\"279\" height=\"279\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.skirtstrategies.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/bigstock-Stamp-Authorized-With-Red-Text-61752521-300x300.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.skirtstrategies.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/bigstock-Stamp-Authorized-With-Red-Text-61752521-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/www.skirtstrategies.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/bigstock-Stamp-Authorized-With-Red-Text-61752521-100x100.jpg 100w, https:\/\/www.skirtstrategies.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/bigstock-Stamp-Authorized-With-Red-Text-61752521.jpg 900w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 279px) 100vw, 279px\" \/><em><a title=\"What about the book?\" href=\"http:\/\/skirtstrategies.com\/about-skirts\/book\/\" target=\"_blank\">ips for Women in Leadership<\/a><strong>.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<p>In this episode Katie and Carol give you practical tips to be clear with your superiors about what authority to act you have and don&#8217;t have. It&#8217;s a great way to start a conversation &#8230; one that may avoid future misinterpretations.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Tip #17. Always be clear to your superiors about what you believe your level of authority is.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>In other words, have regular conversations about what you believe your boundaries are and the <a href=\"http:\/\/skirtstrategies.com\/podcast\/011-setting-expectations\/\">expectations<\/a> that come along with them. You are likely to have more authority than you think. Take advantage of that and you will be seen as a go-getter.<\/p>\n<p>As promised in this episode we are giving you a model to use when delegating to others. Enjoy this <a href=\"http:\/\/skirtstrategies.com\/leadership-for-women\/choosing-the-right-level-of-delegation\/\">Freedom to act model<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Have a conversation with your boss that may include questions like:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Do you think I take as much <a href=\"http:\/\/skirtstrategies.com\/leadership-for-women\/surrounded-by-the-enemy\/\">initiative<\/a> as needed?<\/li>\n<li>Is there anything you\u2019d like to see me doing more of?<\/li>\n<li>Are there any times when I can or should be taking more advantage of my level of authority?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Go ahead and listen to the podcast &#8211; it&#8217;s about a half hour and free. Only good can come of this!<\/p>\n<p><strong>PODCAST TRANSCRIPTION<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Hello and welcome to the Skirt Strategies podcast, the podcast to help you get the support, validation, and skills you need to accomplish your goals and really succeed in a male-dominated world, all without having to give up your incredible female strengths.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s another podcast of Skirt Strategies for women in leadership.<\/p>\n<p>Katie: I would say Skirt Strategies podcast \u2013 another installment. I\u2019m Katie.<\/p>\n<p>Carol: And I\u2019m Carol and that was Katie singing earlier.<\/p>\n<p>Katie: You caught me on that.<\/p>\n<p>Carol: I did.<\/p>\n<p>Katie: That\u2019s just a little extra bonus for our listeners. We\u2019re on Tip Number 17. We\u2019re going through the book <a title=\"Email Etiquette\" href=\"http:\/\/skirtstrategies.com\/book\/\"><em>Skirt Strategies: 249 Success Tips for Women in Leadership<\/em><\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Carol: And Tip 17: <em>Always be clear to your superior about what you believe your level of authority is<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p>Katie: If you have a boss this applies to you. If you don\u2019t have a boss how old you adapt this, or what would be the corollary?<\/p>\n<p>Carol: Well the corollary is be sure and be clear with your&#8211; the people that work for you, about their level of authority.<\/p>\n<p><!--more--><\/p>\n<p>Katie: The people you are accountable to, which could be customers too, but I don\u2019t know whether you talk about authority to customers.<\/p>\n<p>Well let\u2019s talk about people you are accountable to, like bosses, to your superiors, especially those of you who are in bigger organizations.<\/p>\n<p>Carol: It\u2019s interesting. I don\u2019t think of myself having a boss but in fact, I have a board of directors and they are my boss so I have to do this quite a bit. Come back to them, make sure that we\u2019re on the same level as far as where my authority is.<\/p>\n<p>Katie: Okay, that\u2019s always a good idea. Is there a typical conversation that you do to make this happen? And is it an easy one.<\/p>\n<p>Carol: It\u2019s easy because I\u2019ve just kept it in our repertoire and I just continually ask, \u201cIs this something I need your authority or your signature on or is this something that I can do on my own?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>And pretty much if it\u2019s in the budget it\u2019s something that I\u2019m responsible for. If it\u2019s something that outside of the budget than I need to come back to them.<\/p>\n<p>And if it\u2019s something political I usually come back to them for a CYA.<\/p>\n<p>Katie: Good job. So you\u2019re making those conversations happen. Did you notice dear listeners, that there\u2019s initiative taken there. And maybe it\u2019s not even just initiative but it\u2019s also clarity around which you\u2019re going to ask.<\/p>\n<p>Carol: It is and it\u2019s also \u2013 I think not being a victim of the circumstance, so I take the initiative to ask, \u201cIs this something that you need me to ask you before I go forward?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Katie: I would never assume that because it\u2019s a boss, even if it\u2019s a board, that they know better than you.<\/p>\n<p>Carol: That doesn\u2019t sound right.<\/p>\n<p>Katie: That they are more \u2013 that they are the ones that are going to set the parameters of your authority because often it has to be self-initiated. No one\u2019s going to look out for you like you.<\/p>\n<p>Carol: That is right. But you always don\u2019t want to push the envelope too much if you do have authority figures in your life. If you have a boss you don\u2019t want to push that envelope too much.<\/p>\n<p>Katie: Like ask for too much?<\/p>\n<p>Carol: Or try to delegate too much. You really want to know where their boundaries are for you. I think that\u2019s what we are talking about.<\/p>\n<p>So when we talk about me having a board of directors it\u2019s a little bit different although it\u2019s not and you do need to take initiative when you\u2019re asking your boss what they think your level of authority is.<\/p>\n<p>Katie: I think you could look at this as, to what degree are you delegated to? By anybody, who delegates to you, and are they delegating the degree to which you would like, or expect?<\/p>\n<p>And are you having a conversation about it? So if I\u2019m the boss, this would be a conversation about how to delegate to others, right?<\/p>\n<p>Carol: True.<\/p>\n<p>Katie: But as me, the person that\u2019s the subordinate, this is a conversation about how am I making sure that my boss is clearly delegating to me. And delegating is not an easy skill.<\/p>\n<p>Carol: It\u2019s very difficult.<\/p>\n<p>Katie: It\u2019s got a little bit of head issues with it, I think.<\/p>\n<p>Carol: Well it had head issues and the biggest head issue is that, \u201cOh my god I could just do this so much faster if I just did it myself.\u201d But then very soon, if you are a boss, you find out that no, you can\u2019t do everything yourself and I learned early on in the restaurant business, you really just can\u2019t do everything yourself.<\/p>\n<p>At some point you have to delegate and you have to tell people what their jobs are and you have to be very clear about what their jobs are or they are not going to get it done, which was difficult for me as a women going into an industry where a lot of men were working for me. Some were people that were older than me so it was not an easy thing to do. But I was boss and I had to figure out how to delegate.<\/p>\n<p>Katie: I find that it\u2019s easy to assume, this is the conversations these dialogues about delegating and level of authority, I think it\u2019s easy to assume what somebody else is going to do.<\/p>\n<p>For instance we use a lot of contractors at Skirt Strategies. We\u2019ll use people for tasking, mostly IT kind of stuff, for web stuff. Or social media things and I outline for them, I always put it in a list. But there\u2019s always something in there when I\u2019m delegating, for example a little project, do this, then do this, then check for this. There\u2019s an underlying assumption that I\u2019m expecting them to be creative with their own initiative, and I never quite come out and articulate it because if they are self-initiating, they are going to do that for me.<\/p>\n<p>And more often than not, I just \u2013 I don\u2019t know what it is, I think if I have to ask them to take initiative, they are not the kind of person that does it.<\/p>\n<p>Carol: Interesting yeah and that\u2019s not necessarily true. It\u2019s possible that you just haven\u2019t outlined that that\u2019s part of their responsibility.<\/p>\n<p>Katie: Yes and here they are, from the subordinate point of view thinking, well I don\u2019t want to cross any lines. I don\u2019t want to go too far by making her think that I\u2019m clocking up extra hours by doing this extra bit.<\/p>\n<p>Carol: Right. Interesting the difference between as somebody delegating to somebody that you want them to take the initiative and then as somebody who is being delegated to, you\u2019re not sure if you should take the initiative.<\/p>\n<p>Katie: Here are some questions. These are in the tip number in the book, some questions that could be included when you are talking to your boss.<\/p>\n<p><em>Do you think I take as much initiative as needed?\u00a0\u00a0 <\/em><\/p>\n<p>Carol: I think that\u2019s a brilliant question.<\/p>\n<p>Katie: I do to. I don\u2019t see how a boss could see that in any way intimidating. As a matter of fact I have a young women working for me now as an admin and it\u2019s interesting because I\u2019ve never had an admin and nobody in my office has so she\u2019s kind of a general admin for all of us but none of us really know how to use her.<\/p>\n<p>And she comes in to me all the time and she\u2019s like, \u201cCarol, I\u2019m not doing anything. What can I do?\u201d And I\u2019m like, \u201cOkay, we\u2019ll \u2013 I\u2019ve got a million things going on, I\u2019ve got to figure out how to delegate something to her.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Katie: Or having an intern. I have a list from here to eternity for an intern, you and I do, the thought of sitting down and figuring out what\u2019s teachable and delegate-able and do I dare give them the password to this account? Could that be scary?<\/p>\n<p>So that\u2019s a great question. <em>Do you think I take enough initiative as needed?<\/em> You could even morph that into<em>, is the initiative that I\u2019m taking what you expected me to?<\/em> So you could talk about expectations in that.<\/p>\n<p>It could be that you are fearful of the answer being, no you are not taking as much initiative as needed. That\u2019s okay.<\/p>\n<p>Carol: Right well then that gives you the ability to now take more. So don\u2019t be afraid of that answer. Now you can take more and if somebody says stop, then you can say I guess that was too much.<\/p>\n<p>I really appreciate people taking initiative and not seeing themselves as a victim of circumstance. You know the young lady that works for me, she could just sit at her desk and look at Facebook all day if she wanted to but instead she\u2019s taking the initiative and asking me if there\u2019s more to do. And in fact there is I\u2019m just not being smart about using her time well.<\/p>\n<p>Katie: Another follow on question.<\/p>\n<p><em>Is there anything you\u2019d like to see me doing more of? <\/em><\/p>\n<p>Even though there\u2019s a dangling participle in that.<\/p>\n<p>Carol: That\u2019s okay, the whole tip has a preposition hanging \u2013<\/p>\n<p>Katie: No it doesn\u2019t, does it?<\/p>\n<p>Carol: What\u2019s your level of authority is?<\/p>\n<p>Katie: Is a verb not a preposition. Well yes you could round it out a little bit okay. Okay Mrs. Grammar.<\/p>\n<p>Carol: I\u2019m not. I am so not.<\/p>\n<p>Katie: Is <em>there anything you\u2019d like to see me doing more of?<\/em> That\u2019s great. If I came to you and said, \u201cIs there anything you\u2019d like to see me doing more of?\u201d It\u2019s going to make you think, and now we\u2019re going to get more done.<\/p>\n<p>Carol: Well and it also just makes you look like you\u2019re trying to do better in the situation and so these are pieces of initiative, just simple questions to ask your boss that will really make you look like you\u2019re trying to do your job and do it better.<\/p>\n<p>Katie: Follow on question.<\/p>\n<p><em>Are there any times when I can or should be taking more advantage of my level of authority? <\/em><\/p>\n<p>Carol: Oh. More advantage of and I don\u2019t know if that\u2019s the right part of the question but once you establish what your level of authority is, and I think you have something on your level of delegation \u2013<\/p>\n<p>Katie: I do I have something that my friend Tim Daniel shared with me, a model that he called the freedom to act model. The aha with that model, it\u2019s around delegating, so it\u2019s settling authority between two people or the level of activity that someone\u2019s going to take when you delegate to them, including the level of authority. The aha around that when I first was exposed to that and this is not huge but if you\u2019re kind of new in leadership it is, is that you don\u2019t either delegate or not. It\u2019s not black or white. It\u2019s a whole continuum.<\/p>\n<p>If you\u2019re thinking, I don\u2019t know if I should delegate this, this is perfect because I\u2019m just thinking about an intern and what I might be holding back with delegating to an intern or to a contractor. What I might be holding back because I don\u2019t want them to go so far as blah, blah, blah. Then delegate everything but the going so far as blah, blah.<\/p>\n<p>So the degrees look like at one end complete freedom to act and that\u2019s delegating the whole shebang.<\/p>\n<p>You have the authority to take this issue, come up with recommendations. You can delegate to the extreme degree, the whole shebang. And that might look like, take this project, determine what you think the best options are, pick the best option, implement the best option, follow through on it, no need to follow back with me and report out. That\u2019s the whole thing. I am essentially giving it to you.<\/p>\n<p>Next step back might be all of the above except report to me what you decided to do.<\/p>\n<p>Carol: I\u2019m writing this down.<\/p>\n<p>Katie: Okay. And there\u2019s not much risk in coming back and reporting to me so I don\u2019t know whether those last two would be really that different. Tell me what you did vs. don\u2019t tell me what you did.<\/p>\n<p>Carol: Well I do think that that keeps the level of authority in your hands rather than their hands. So if they\u2019ve got complete freedom to do whatever, that\u2019s one situation but if they are reporting back to you that\u2019s a different one and I like the fact that that\u2019s part of the model.<\/p>\n<p>So I\u2019m going to put together this model and make sure that we get it in the show notes. So if somebody is listening while they are exercising or doing something else and can\u2019t write it down, we\u2019ll do that.<\/p>\n<p>Katie: And the next level down, I won\u2019t go through all the levels because they are kind of obvious but the next level down might be, go look into this, see what the options are, select an option, come back to me, let\u2019s decide together. And then you can go implement it. Or let\u2019s decide together and I\u2019ll implement it.<\/p>\n<p>See there are all sorts of slices and dices to it. And then maybe let\u2019s go to the other end of the continuum which is not very much freedom and that might be you have no authority to do anything.<\/p>\n<p>Carol: No freedom, no authority, just sit at your desk and welcome to the job.<\/p>\n<p>Katie: Go find out what the options are and come back to me. And there\u2019s some value in that because you\u2019re giving them exposure to the project or whatever it might be that you want them to start getting up to speed on but you\u2019re freeing the reigns a bit.<\/p>\n<p>Remember any time you\u2019re delegating don\u2019t take it back. Don\u2019t take it back. If you set a certain guideline for what someone is supposed to go forward with, now I realize I am taking as the delegator now, don\u2019t change your mind later. That is the kiss of death for your credibility as a leader, and people having faith in you.<\/p>\n<p>I\u2019ve seen it happen in such a way where it was a big decision and then the decision was taken back after the decision had been announced and so and so was going to go do this and now the boss says, \u201cOh so and so is not going to go do this.\u201d And so and so was kind of caught off guard by it. Now everyone\u2019s on eggshells because they are thinking, is that the way we make decisions around here?<\/p>\n<p>So you set a pattern for what it\u2019s like to work with you with every decision you make. Stick with it.<\/p>\n<p>Will things need to change eventually? Sure. Sometimes you have to change a decision but if that\u2019s happening a lot then I would bid that you need to take a look at whether you are making decisions too reactively.<\/p>\n<p>Carol: Interesting, well very good so that has to do with if you are the boss.<\/p>\n<p>If you are not the boss and you are being delegated to you might even say, \u201cI understand we have this project. Let me go out and find the options and report back to you. How\u2019s that?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Katie: Oh that\u2019s awesome.<\/p>\n<p>Carol: That\u2019s a ton of initiative right there in that one little sentence and all of a sudden you\u2019ve taken this huge burden off your boss. Now you have to deliver and you report back, \u201cHere are your three options. What would you like to do in the situation?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Katie: But you could do it in a way where it felt a little bit safe for you. Now again we\u2019re talking about taking the delegation from upward, so taking the authority from upward, making sure it\u2019s okay with him or her, and the conversation needs to outline where in that freedom to act are you suggesting? You are probably asking.<\/p>\n<p>So I would like to volunteer for this project or this decision or this upcoming milestone, whatever it might be. I would like to take this next step over, find out what some of the options are, come back to the table and take a look at it with you and take a look at it with you as to what decision can be made.<\/p>\n<p>And notice I didn\u2019t say what decision I can make, what decision can be made. I put it in the past so that it leaves it open for debate.<\/p>\n<p>Carol: That can be made by me or by you.<\/p>\n<p>Katie: Intentionally vague. Not I\u2019m smarter than you so it should be me. Somewhere around the whole concept of this discussion is the dialogue around expectations. If you\u2019re feeling like you\u2019re not getting delegated to or your authority is not clear, you may have to step back just a little bit and have a conversation around, what are our expectations around one another?<\/p>\n<p>Am I developing or are you feeling like you can delegate things to me? Are you too busy to delegate things to me?<\/p>\n<p>Carol: Is there something I can do to make your job easier?<\/p>\n<p>Katie: Is there something about me that makes you nervous about delegating to me? That would be a raw conversation.<\/p>\n<p>Carol: That would be but you\u2019re always very good about expectations and expectation-setting and I think that\u2019s something that we\u2019re not always that great at so when you have a project, when you are delegating to somebody, it\u2019s very important to set those expectations and if you\u2019re being delegated to, very important to ask what the final outcome expectations are.<\/p>\n<p>Katie: Good.<\/p>\n<p>Carol: So I\u2019m making sure that what I think you want is what you want and you\u2019re making sure that you are getting what you want, right?<\/p>\n<p>Katie: Yes. It\u2019s kind of a mirrored effect. Here\u2019s what I want. Here\u2019s what I think you want. You would say, here\u2019s what you want. Here\u2019s what you think I want.<\/p>\n<p>Carol: So that\u2019s interesting and true. We really do need to figure out that expectations and some people are not very communicative and so you don\u2019t know what your boss\u2019s expectations are and you are absolutely flummoxed over how to take initiative within your job. What would you say to that person?<\/p>\n<p>Katie: Understand that there\u2019s a certain level of emotional intelligence with some people that makes it easier to converse and maybe some of it\u2019s generational.<\/p>\n<p>For an example my \u2013 I think I can have a conversation around some things with my parents and then I notice if I get too much into it, it\u2019s not that I lose them it\u2019s just that they don\u2019t want to talk about \u2013 my mom with get into depth with stuff with me but my dad and stepmother I think, there\u2019s \u2013 I don\u2019t know if it\u2019s uncomfortable or they just don\u2019t ever do it. So I don\u2019t want to assume that they are not capable. I think they probably are I think it\u2019s possibly the role.<\/p>\n<p>So if you\u2019re in a role of a supervisor and a subordinate, is it a little, depending on how your relationship is, is it a little bit uncomfortable starting to talk about expectations of one another if it seems negotiating. I wouldn\u2019t say it should be but I know that it can be. I know that there are some people who can\u2019t have that kind of conversation.<\/p>\n<p>Carol: It seems confrontational to some people.<\/p>\n<p>Katie: Yes that\u2019s exactly what it is. It seems confrontational and so it becomes a little bit uncomfortable. But digging up some of that of course this is me coming from someone that\u2019s married to a psychologist who digs that stuff up all day with patients and me, so it\u2019s not comfortable. I would say it\u2019s not comfortable for me but I don\u2019t think of it as not normal or confrontational. It could be done in a confrontational way.<\/p>\n<p>Carol: And that you want to avoid.<\/p>\n<p>Katie: That you would like to avoid. So that expectations setting conversation ought to be just the norm and not something to run from.<\/p>\n<p>Carol: Do an expectations \u2013<\/p>\n<p>Katie: Practice one?<\/p>\n<p>Carol: Yeah.<\/p>\n<p>Katie: An example.<\/p>\n<p>Carol: I think that\u2019s important.<\/p>\n<p>Katie: Okay let me do it as a boss and somebody that\u2019s working for me who I have on a project \u2013 I\u2019m going to use a fundraising project in the office and I want to spread around the number of hands that are in the project, which is really good because it\u2019s good exposure for the office.<\/p>\n<p>It kind of goes into what our next topic is. If I find Jeanette, for example just to come up with that name and Jeanette works for me, and I want Jeanette to maybe have a little bit of say so in something I think she\u2019d be good at it. Maybe it\u2019s the registration and money collecting. So I approach Jeanette and I say Jeanette I\u2019d like you to think about how you want to participate and I\u2019m staying real general, participate in the upcoming project. Any ideas? I have an idea but I\u2019m asking the question first.<\/p>\n<p>Carol: Good.<\/p>\n<p>Katie: And Jeanette might say, \u201cI don\u2019t know. I haven\u2019t really thought about it but I\u2019m really good at organizational stuff or party planning or whatever issue it might be.\u201d So that starts to go to the role setting and then we have the expectation setting so the role setting is around, \u201cOkay Jeanette, can I have you take over the whole registration process? Can you make sure that you have the money collecting in there, the logistics, the paperwork, etc., and then if you need a certain amount of budget, that\u2019s kind of a fork in the road, come to me at that point and let\u2019s determine what your budget might be.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Carol: Nice.<\/p>\n<p>Katie: So I\u2019ve given her the outlines of it. You might think that would be enough but I will promise you there will be things that come up that nobody could see.<\/p>\n<p>Carol: Sure. Do we need name tags? Oh my god we have to print name tags.<\/p>\n<p>Katie: And is there a target for how much we\u2019re doing? What\u2019s the expectation around what the registration fee is? Is this is a fundraiser, whatever. I would like to have her expect to come to me regularly to renegotiate if she needs to. So I would set that up in the expectation. Jeanette I expect you to feel comfortable to ask me when you\u2019ve got some major decisions to make. I also expect you to go ahead and make the small ones yourself. Is that okay with you? So I get it back from her.<\/p>\n<p>Carol: Nice.<\/p>\n<p>Katie: There is kind of a key in there in that expectation setting that I think has to do with thinking first about what is most important to the other person. What is of value to Jeanette? Is it to be in the middle of something? Is it to have authority herself?<\/p>\n<p>Carol: Is it to do great things behind the scenes?<\/p>\n<p>Katie: And so we\u2019ve just kind of negotiated what she\u2019s going to go do but most of me was telling her what I expected. There ought to be a conversation that\u2019s really driven around what is she expecting? She might have to settle into the project first before she knows that but I also want to know what\u2019s of value to her and what\u2019s important to her.<\/p>\n<p>And maybe it\u2019s important to her not have to have to workweek ends to get this thing done and maybe my expectation is well, maybe but the weekend before the event you\u2019re going to be busy so my expectation is you\u2019re going to be there.<\/p>\n<p>Carol: Nice.<\/p>\n<p>Katie: Does that help?<\/p>\n<p>Carol: Yeah it does. And I do this quite often. I don\u2019t do it as thoughtfully as maybe I should just I delegate to people all day long. If it\u2019s part of their job description it gets delegated to them and sometimes it\u2019s merely an email that goes on to them that says, \u201cDo something about this.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Katie: Yeah.<\/p>\n<p>Carol: So there is a point where I need to set some expectations and say, \u201cOkay I expect you to report back to me on a regular basis.\u201d And I\u2019m not necessarily doing that with my subordinates and then I don\u2019t know that I\u2019m always asking that of my \u2013 you can\u2019t call them superiors can you?<\/p>\n<p>Katie: Yeah I guess you could \u2013 the board?<\/p>\n<p>Carol: There are not superior to me.<\/p>\n<p>Katie: My upper echelon.<\/p>\n<p>Carol: Yeah the people I report to \u2013 the board.<\/p>\n<p>Katie: The reportees. There\u2019s a little bit of danger, this is a good thing, not the danger but it\u2019s a good thing to get comfortable with someone to the degree where you kind of know each other\u2019s expectations.<\/p>\n<p>For example I was using a model about resilience that comes from a colleague organization of mine, the Cumberland Group. They are consultants. I do some consulting with them sometimes and they have some great material that I occasionally adapt and use I generally ask them, \u201cAre you okay if I put this in a book?\u201d Every single time it\u2019s always been, \u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I was putting some material together this morning and it was a model of resilience and I thought I really like this model. I remember it and I\u2019m going to drop it in this class that I\u2019m using.<\/p>\n<p>I started getting so comfortable about using it myself that my expectation was I don\u2019t even need to ask them. I\u2019d be careful about that. I think their expectation might be \u2013 they might say that their expectation is that I can use almost anything but that I ask every time. I don\u2019t know. We\u2019ve never had that conversation.<\/p>\n<p>Carol: It might be nice to have it.<\/p>\n<p>Katie: I just ask every time and they say yes.<\/p>\n<p>Carol: And maybe next time you ask, you say, \u201cBy the way, is it okay if I use this without asking you? If not I\u2019d be glad to ask you every time.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Katie: Exactly. I always put a link in back to their business and so give them a little credit.<\/p>\n<p>Carol: All right. Well we have talked about how to be clear to your superiors about what you believe your level of authority is and we\u2019ve even talked about being the superior in this case and setting expectations.<\/p>\n<p>Katie: Everything you need to know.<\/p>\n<p>Carol: We appreciate you being with us.<\/p>\n<p>(Music plays)<\/p>\n<p>That\u2019s it for this episode of the Skirt Strategies podcast. Thank you for joining us and please be sure to leave a question or comment at Skirtstrategies.com. Remember that success comes when you lead using your natural female strengths.<\/p>\n<p>[end of transcript]<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Katie and Carol talk about Tip 17 from Skirt Strategies: 249 Success Tips for Women in Leadership. In this episode Katie and Carol give you practical tips to be clear with your superiors about what authority to act you have and don&#8217;t have. It&#8217;s a great way to start a conversation &#8230; one that may [&hellip;]<\/p>\n<div class=\"powerpress_player\" id=\"powerpress_player_6739\"><audio class=\"wp-audio-shortcode\" id=\"audio-3185-2\" preload=\"none\" style=\"width: 100%;\" controls=\"controls\"><source type=\"audio\/mpeg\" src=\"http:\/\/traffic.libsyn.com\/paththreellc\/028SkirtStrategiesPodcast.mp3?_=2\" \/><a href=\"http:\/\/traffic.libsyn.com\/paththreellc\/028SkirtStrategiesPodcast.mp3\">http:\/\/traffic.libsyn.com\/paththreellc\/028SkirtStrategiesPodcast.mp3<\/a><\/audio><\/div><p class=\"powerpress_links powerpress_links_mp3\" style=\"margin-bottom: 1px !important;\">Podcast: <a href=\"http:\/\/traffic.libsyn.com\/paththreellc\/028SkirtStrategiesPodcast.mp3\" class=\"powerpress_link_d\" title=\"Download\" rel=\"nofollow\" download=\"028SkirtStrategiesPodcast.mp3\">Download<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[24],"tags":[49,50,51],"class_list":["post-3185","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-podcast","tag-authority","tag-initiative","tag-leadershipforwomen"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v24.0 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Setting level of authority with others<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Have a little talk about your level of authority at work and it will lead to clearer expectations and help you take initiative. We have a great model for delegating authority to others.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.skirtstrategies.com\/podcast\/028-podcast-be-clear-about-your-level-of-authority\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Setting level of authority with others\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Have a little talk about your level of authority at work and it will lead to clearer expectations and help you take initiative. We have a great model for delegating authority to others.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.skirtstrategies.com\/podcast\/028-podcast-be-clear-about-your-level-of-authority\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Skirt Strategies\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2014-05-10T18:09:56+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2015-04-21T02:49:32+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/skirtstrategies.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/bigstock-Stamp-Authorized-With-Red-Text-61752521-300x300.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Carol\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Carol\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"25 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.skirtstrategies.com\/podcast\/028-podcast-be-clear-about-your-level-of-authority\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.skirtstrategies.com\/podcast\/028-podcast-be-clear-about-your-level-of-authority\/\",\"name\":\"Setting level of authority with others\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.skirtstrategies.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.skirtstrategies.com\/podcast\/028-podcast-be-clear-about-your-level-of-authority\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.skirtstrategies.com\/podcast\/028-podcast-be-clear-about-your-level-of-authority\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"http:\/\/skirtstrategies.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/bigstock-Stamp-Authorized-With-Red-Text-61752521-300x300.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2014-05-10T18:09:56+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2015-04-21T02:49:32+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.skirtstrategies.com\/#\/schema\/person\/c09275ea628a172d40331430ad041778\"},\"description\":\"Have a little talk about your level of authority at work and it will lead to clearer expectations and help you take initiative. 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