The Effect of Manager’s Decision on the Perception of the “Leadership vs. Authority” of the Subordinates

Abstract

There have been long debates among scholars, and practitioners on the definition of leadership and whether leadership significantly differs from authority (Farmer & Aguinis, 2005). For example, in my opinion, leadership is defined by followers. Sullivan (2012) suggests, leadership varies based on the followers’ perception of leadership, culture, beliefs, and needs, with needs being the most important driving force of the leadership. However, different people, from different geographic area, field of working and so on, have different conceptions of leadership. This difference can be attributed to various factors that affect people’s decision about who can be their leader. In most cases, managers of the organization at any level are perceived as the centers of action, influence, and power. They make decisions that affect the subordinates and the entire organization. These decisions have positive, negative, or neutral impacts on the subordinates. Managers’ decisions in the workplace determine whether the subordinates perceive the supervisors as leaders or authority figures or both. This paper discusses the cause of mangers’ decisions, the effects of such decisions on subordinates’ lives, and factors that influence people’s perception of supervisors as leaders or authority figures. Understanding the relation between the causation, effect and consequences of those decisions and employee’ perception about leadership can give the direction to Managers for leading the people in prolific way. Distinguishing between leader and authority figure from the view of an employee help the superiors to enhance the people management skills.