4 Push Authority and Know Tell

Placing decision making closer to those doing the work

Push Authority to Information

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Push Authority to Information

• Boosts confidence and motivation

• Leaders free to look at the big picture

• Faster and more responsive decision-making​

• Team members are empowered

• Development of team members

• Individuls and teams have more control, involvement and responsibility

Push Authority to Information

Who do you think is making the decisions in this situation?

You may not be leading a team in this situation but how often do you need to lead when you don't have all the information?

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The Know All, Tell Not Leader

Not Knowing

Telling

Not Telling

Knowing

The Knowing, Telling Leader

Not Knowing

Telling

Not Telling

Knowing

The Knowing Telling Leader

The Not Knowing, Not Telling Leader

The Not Knowing, Telling Leader

The Knowing, Not Telling Leader

Telling

Not Telling

Knowing

The Knowing, Telling Leader

Not Knowing

The Not Knowing, Telling Leader

The Not Knowing, Not Telling Leader

The Not Knowing, Telling Leader

The Knowing, Not Telling Leader

The Knowing, Telling Leader

Not Knowing

Telling

Not Telling

Knowing

The Not Knowing, Not Telling Leader

The Not Knowing, Not Telling Leader

The Not Knowing, Telling Leader

The Knowing, Not Telling Leader

The Knowing, Telling Leader

Not Knowing

Telling

Not Telling

Knowing

The Knowing, Not Telling Leader

The Not Knowing, Not Telling Leader

The Not Knowing, Telling Leader

The Knowing, Not Telling Leader

Not Knowing

Telling

Not Telling

Knowing

The Knowing, Not Telling Leader

The Not Knowing, Not Telling Leader

The Not Knowing, Telling Leader

The Knowing, Not Telling Leader

The Knowing, Telling Leader

The Not Knowing, Not Telling Leader

The Not Knowing, Telling Leader

The Knowing, Not Telling Leader

The Knowing, Telling Leader

Not Knowing

Telling

Not Telling

Knowing

Not Knowing

Telling

Not Telling

Knowing

Thinking about your own context. Place the pin where you find yourself operating most?

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Different Leaders

Where you think this leader will operate on the Knowing Telling matrix?

Not Knowing

Telling

Not Telling

Knowing

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Different Leaders

Where you think this leader will operate on the Knowing Telling matrix?

Telling

Not Telling

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Different Leaders

Where you think this leader will operate on the Knowing Telling matrix?

Telling

Not Telling

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Different Leaders

Where you think this leader will operate on the Knowing Telling matrix?

Telling

Not Telling

Not Knowing

Telling

Not Telling

Everest

Knowing

Not Knowing

Telling

Not Telling

Miracle on the Hudson

Knowing

Not Knowing

Telling

Not Telling

Emergency Surgery

Knowing

Not Knowing

Telling

Not Telling

World Class Creativity

Knowing

What might the dangers of this be?

Back To The Submarine

Who is Knowing but not Telling?

Where is that person on the Knowing Telling framework?

Lets think about the submarine again and who is making the decisions?

Push Authority to Information

What would the advantages for you be of pushing authority to information?

Decentralizing Decision making

Streamlining

Decison Making

Authority

Empowerment

Pushing authority to information removes bottlenecks, increases responsiveness, and builds stronger, more capable teams. Instead of relying on top-down leadership, organizations can trust and equip their people to act on the information they have - leading to better outcomes across all levels.

Push Authority to Information in Practice

Key Takeaways

Key Takeaways

• Speeds up decision making

• Improves team dynamics

• Increasess motivation and engagement

• Better outcomes at all levels

• Equips people to act

• Increases trust and empowerment

• Removes top-down leadership

• Builds stronger, more capable teams

• Increases responsiveness

• Removes bottlenecks

World Class Creativity

Not Telling, Not Knowing

In a creative environment it’s almost impossible for a leader to tell people how to be creative. Leaders have to create the environment which makes it easier for people to bring their creative capabilities to life. A leader who tries to operate in a know and tell way will limit ideas and stifile creativity.

Key Takeaway When marketers are trusted to act based on their expertise, the brand stays dynamic and competitive.

Intent-Based Leadership Approach: Content creators can publish social media posts or marketing materials based on clear brand guidelines without waiting for executive sign-off. Leadership shifts from controlling every decision to reviewing overall performance. Over time, the team becomes more agile, increasing engagement and brand relevance.

Scenario: A company wants its marketing team to be more responsive to trends instead of waiting for executive approvals.

Traditional Approach (Top-Down Leadership)Holds discussions about the need for faster content creation. Expects employees to change their approach before giving them decision-making power .

Accelerating Decision-Making in a Marketing Team

Scenario: A company wants customer service agents to resolve issues faster without always seeking managerial approval.

Traditional Approach (Thinking First): Holds training sessions about the importance of independent problem-solving. Expects employees to develop confidence before making decisions. Intent-Based Leadership Approach:Gives agents authority to issue refunds or discounts up to a certain limit without escalation. Encourages agents to make decisions based on company values and customer needs rather than strict scripts. Over time, agents become more confident in resolving issues, and fewer escalations occur.Key TakeawayAuthority follows the information—by allowing those closest to the customer to act, decision-making becomes faster and more effective.

Giving Nurses More Autonomy in Patient Care

The Knowing, Not Telling Leader

The Knowing, Not Telling Leader

The Knowing, Not Telling Leader

The best leadership style for building thinkers & leaders.

The Knowing, Not Telling Leader

The Knowing, Not Telling Leader

The Not Knowing, Telling Leader

The Know All, Tell All Leader

The Not Knowing, Telling Leader

World Class Surgeon

Telling, Not Knowing

Surgeons who are very dominant can lead to increased risk because people will either switch off and go on to autopilot assuming that the surgeon is in charge, or become overly deferential or even scared to speak up and not even if they can see there is a problem. In an operating theater we definitely want someone in charge, but we also want everyone else to be engaged, active and ready to speak up.

Efficient in the short term but limits team growth.

The Know All, Tell All Leader

Miracle on the Hudson

Knowing, Not telling

When Captain Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger was faced with a decision to land his aircraft in the Hudson river in New York he had to act quickly and decisively. He didn’t need to tell the cabin crew what to do, and even in the short time in dealing with the emergency he still consulted his co-pilot for other ideas and solutions.

The Not Knowing, Telling Leader

The Knowing, Not Telling Leader

Key Takeaway Authority follows the information—by allowing those closest to the customer to act, decision-making becomes faster and more effective.

Intent-Based Leadership Approach: Gives agents authority to issue refunds or discounts up to a certain limit without escalation. Encourages agents to make decisions based on company values and customer needs rather than strict scripts. Over time, agents become more confident in resolving issues, and fewer escalations occur.

Scenario: A company wants customer service agents to resolve issues faster without always seeking managerial approval.

Traditional Approach (Top-Down Leadership): Holds training sessions about the importance of independent problem-solving. Expects employees to develop confidence before making decisions.

Empowering Customer Service Representatives

The Knowing, Not Telling Leader

The Not Knowing, Telling Leader

Unsustainable, leads to loss of credibility.

The Not Knowing, Telling Leader

Key Takeaway Pushing authority to field teams enables quicker, more effective crisis response.

Intent-Based Leadership ApproachGives field teams authority to allocate supplies based on real-time needs rather than waiting for directives. Establishes broad guidelines instead of rigid instructions so workers can make informed decisions. Over time, disaster response speeds up, and communities receive aid faster.

Scenario: A disaster relief organization wants aid workers to distribute resources faster in crisis zones.

Traditional Approach (Top-Down Leadership)Centralizes decision-making at headquarters to ensure consistency. Assumes local teams need approval before taking action.

Decentralizing Decision-Making in Disaster Response

Scenario: A company wants customer service agents to resolve issues faster without always seeking managerial approval.

Traditional Approach (Thinking First): Holds training sessions about the importance of independent problem-solving. Expects employees to develop confidence before making decisions. Intent-Based Leadership Approach:Gives agents authority to issue refunds or discounts up to a certain limit without escalation. Encourages agents to make decisions based on company values and customer needs rather than strict scripts. Over time, agents become more confident in resolving issues, and fewer escalations occur.Key TakeawayAuthority follows the information—by allowing those closest to the customer to act, decision-making becomes faster and more effective.

Giving Nurses More Autonomy in Patient Care

Key Takeaway The people closest to the patient should have the authority to act, reducing delays and saving lives.

Intent-Based Leadership Approach Trains nurses to make real-time adjustments to patient care based on defined medical guidelines. Encourages nurses to state their intent, such as, "I am increasing the oxygen level because the patient’s vitals indicate distress." Over time, nurses become more confident and proactive and work more collaboratively.

Scenario: A hospital wants to improve patient outcomes by allowing nurses to take quicker action.

Traditional Approach (Top-Down Leadership)Requires nurses to always wait for a doctor’s order before making changes to patient care. Assumes that more protocols will lead to better decisions.

Giving Nurses More Authority in Patient Care

Scenario: A company wants customer service agents to resolve issues faster without always seeking managerial approval.

Traditional Approach (Thinking First): Holds training sessions about the importance of independent problem-solving. Expects employees to develop confidence before making decisions. Intent-Based Leadership Approach:Gives agents authority to issue refunds or discounts up to a certain limit without escalation. Encourages agents to make decisions based on company values and customer needs rather than strict scripts. Over time, agents become more confident in resolving issues, and fewer escalations occur.Key TakeawayAuthority follows the information—by allowing those closest to the customer to act, decision-making becomes faster and more effective.

Giving Nurses More Autonomy in Patient Care

Disengaged leadership, results in team drift.

The Knowing, Not Telling Leader

Key Takeaway Pushing authority to the people closest to technical problems eliminates bottlenecks and improves efficiency.

Intent-Based Leadership Approach:Gives IT staff the authority to implement solutions for common technical issues without waiting for approvals. Encourages technicians to communicate what they are doing instead of asking, "Can I?" Over time, response times decrease, and IT employees feel more ownership over their work.

Scenario: An IT department wants to reduce response times for fixing urgent technical issues.

Traditional Approach (Top Down Leadership):Requires technicians to get managerial approval before making system changes. Expects employees to ask for permission before solving problems.

Streamlining IT Support

The Knowing, Not Telling Leader

The Knowing, Not Telling Leader

The Knowing, Not Telling Leader

Disaster on Everest

Not Knowing, Not telling

Ahead of the final ascent of Everest one of the world’ s most experienced mountaineers gives a brief to his group. ”My word is final. Beyond appeal”. His motive was to provide clarity and certainty at the most critical point in the climb. The impact was that two of the guests, who were pilots spotted a dangerous cloud formation but didn’t speak up and raise the alarm. Half the climbing team died when the storm hit them

The Not Knowing, Telling Leader

The Knowing, Not Telling Leader