Deciding Who is Worthy of Power and Authority

What to look for, the problem areas and recommendations and advisory

Deciding which person is worthy of investing trust, power and leadership in and whom is unlikely to prove responsible with it can be challenging and high risk.

Developing an accurate understanding about someone is crucial task because so much depends on a person’s self control, judgment and ethics and there are people who are granted and entrusted with power who eventually (and maybe quickly) and clearly reveal that it was misplaced in their hands.

Ulrika Gustafson is an executive coach and strategic advisor at Ulrika Gustafson Advisory

“I look at four things,” says Ulrika Gustafson, an executive coach and strategic advisor to senior and Fortune 500 leaders, at Ulrika Gustafson Advisory.

“How they treat people with less power: do they listen, give credit and stay respectful when there’s nothing to gain? How they talk about former colleagues and bosses: if every past story paints them as the hero and everyone else as the problem, that’s a red flag.

“What they do with bad news: high-character leaders don’t hide it, spin it or send someone junior to deliver it. They face it and stay steady. Their relationship to mandate: people I trust with power ask for clarity on scope, guardrails and accountability. They want responsibility, not just status,” she details and explains.

Brian Townsend, formerly with the U.S. DEA

Respect, sincerity and consistency matter.

“I watch how they treat people and how authentic they are in their interactions,” says Brian Townsend, a retired supervisory special agent with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). “Is it fair and consistent?

“I also want to watch how they act and react in stressful situations. It’s not what they say but what they do that makes a difference to me.”

Leila Rao doesn’t see a catch-all, reliable process to identify the people risks.

“There’s no perfect system,” says the founder and CEO at AgileXtended, where she helps organizations align their strategies, cultures and execution to become adaptive, not just compliant. “You’re always making a judgment call based on incomplete information.”

She offers a recommendation.

“Certain patterns give you actual data, not just gut instincts,” Rao points out. “Do they keep commitments? Do they follow through on small things, not just big ones? How do they handle mistakes? Do they own them, learn from them or deflect blame?

“Consider their track record in similar roles. Past behavior is the most reliable predictor. If someone repeatedly made decisions that prioritized integrity over convenience, that pattern matters.”

Loud Sirens and Flashing Lights

“I’ve seen a few patterns that show up again and again,” Gustafson says.

“Obsession with title, access and visibility instead of outcomes,” she begins. “Charm upwards, impatience or dismissiveness downwards.

“A habit of blaming ‘the system,’ ‘politics,’ or ‘the last person in the role’ for everything that went wrong. Vague or polished answers about why they left previous jobs, especially if the story doesn’t match what others say. Comfort breaking small rules: leaking sensitive information, bending processes ‘just this once,’ ignoring agreed boundaries.

“Another big one: they ask for wide authority very fast but get vague when you ask how they’ll use it or how they want to be held accountable.”

Look for It

“If drama and confusion seem to follow a person from role to role, it’s not an accident,” Gustafson warns. “It’s a pattern.

“Giving that person more power doesn’t fix it. It just raises the stakes.”

Deeply Monitor the Ego

“What if they are wrong?” Townsend asks. “Do they own mistakes and grow from them or do they push back and act like they know it all.”

How professional people are with others is a defining key to watch and understand.

“I watch how people interact with people that can’t help them or help their career,” Townsend adds. “That’s very telling.”

How Aligned are Communication and Behavior

Leila Rao is the founder and CEO at AgileXtended

“I look for inconsistency between words and actions,” Rao says. “I try to notice if they become defensive about failures, blaming others or minimizing what happened.

“I pay attention to how they treat people. If they’re charming to decision-makers but dismissive to their team, that’s a major red flag. Also, (see) if they’re chameleons — their explanations or behaviors shift depending on audience — details change to suit the listener.

“A spontaneous pivot is one thing but an ever-moving moral line is another.”

Final Recommendations

“How other people in the organization feel about the person is usually revealing,” Townsend says. “Is the person feared, hated, just the ‘nice person,’ or is there genuine respect for them?

“The culture is everything to me and a psychologically safe environment is where people thrive. How is this person contributing to that?”

He makes a point that trust, authority and power should not solely be because of accomplishment.

“The metric I am tracking isn’t some work product, it’s how they act and treat others,” Townsend stresses. “If I am working with a team, I gauge morale and how each member contributes to that. The good ones are those I would promote.”

Beware the Common False Assumption

“Stop assuming strong performance automatically equals strong character,” Gustafson advises. “Test both.”

She provides a guide for how to approach extending authority and power.

“Give people ‘small power’ first: limited mandates with clear guardrails, transparent decision trails and real consequences,’ Gustafson says. “See how they handle that before you widen their span of control.”

She additionally recommends constructing a stronger foundation for ethical outcomes.

“Build structures that make it easier to do the right thing than the convenient thing,” Gustafson says. “Clear expectations for how power is used here, not just what results are expected. Regular, honest calibration conversations about behavior, not only metrics. Safe channels for people to raise concerns about leaders without losing their job or their future.

“And then the hard part: when someone with power breaks trust, act fast. You can coach skills but you can’t afford to look away from repeated breaches of integrity at the top. That’s how cultures drift.”

Worthy of Remembering

“Accept that your vetting process will fail sometimes,” Rao reasons. “No screening catches everything. So design your governance assuming good people will occasionally make bad calls. Have guardrails that catch mistakes before they become catastrophes.

“The goal isn’t to find perfect people, it’s to create conditions where imperfect people are less likely to abuse power and where problems surface before they snowball out of control.”

Communication Intelligence began as online magazine (2021-2024) on another platform and during that time, also became a free-or-paid newsletter on Substack. The C.I. brand additionally offers individuals and organizations a variety of services, from written communications as well as communication consulting and coaching.

The newsletter is written by a former newspaper reporter, magazine writer, talk show host and communications consultant and advisor.