AUTHORITY can be pretty powerful stuff especially if a person isn't used to having it. It has a tendency to go to people's heads; sometimes there's no stopping it.

And, unfortunately, the more authority a person has, and the more promptly and unquestioningly people respond, the greater the danger of forgetting that authority is not a substitute for leadership.

"So what?" one might think. It's true that the principles of good human relations apply to the chairman of the board as much as they do to a supervisor or manager.

But why bother? If it's so easy to make people do things, why stop to explain and persuade? Why bother to consult other people and ask their opinions?

Because they deserve your respect, that's why. And as their leader not their authority you owe it to them.

In a sense it's too bad that anyone in this world has to have authority over anyone else. But we have to have bosses; that's the way the world works and the way we get things done. The best we can do is to make the situation as tolerable as possible by carrying authority lightly, using it with discretion, and not letting it go to our heads.

Almost all of us throw our weight around occasionally. Next time you find yourself doing it, check up on yourself and ask yourself some questions:

•  Have you tried to interest people in doing a job right instead of merely forcing them?

•  Have you tried to figure out what's keeping them from doing better?

•  Have you made a real effort to get cooperation? Or did you just get in there and push?

Never let your authority blind you to the need for leadership.

The clich about a problem worker "having trouble with authority figures" may reside more in the authority figure than the worker. After all, who ever heard of someone "having trouble with leadership figures"? So from time to time, consider your own management style and ask yourself: Am I being an authority or am I being a leader?

Which would you want as your boss?