Respect My Authority

"That doesn't sound right. I don't have any ass pains, I have a pain in my right ear." What the hell am I talking about here? I'm sure you're curious and you'll be shocked to see how this plays out, but before I get to that, I have to get the boring technical stuff out of the way first. This topic of authority is vast. I'll tell you just what you need to know so that you can leverage this tactic ethically.

So with that said, I'll discuss:

• The power of the authority tactic.
• The types of authority and how to leverage each one
• I'll also address a critical conditioning error.

Lets go back. In-fact, way back. It started when you were a child. That verse you heard repeatedly in Sunday school if you are a Christian;

"Children obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right."
— Ephesians 6:1

From before you could spell the word, you were trained to do one thing. Obey!

This eventually became your default behavior to anyone you perceived to be your superior like other adults, teachers and the police just to name a few.

There are billions of people alive today. No matter their color, religion, nationality or upbringing, you perceive them in two simple ways. Either you see them as inferior to you or superior to you. This is where the equation gets messed up. The biggest flaw in your conditioning is perceiving that someone you assume is superior to you is the expert or the authority.

"The wisest among us have the most authority."
— Plato

Because of this conditioning, you gave birth to two instinctive and burning desires. Trust and control. If you perceive me to be the subject matter expert or your superior, I'm the authority and whatever I say, its gospel.

But then again, there are those who obviously need to be guided. Right? Now I'm no scholar on the bible but I do remember a few verses.

Direct your children onto the right path, and when they are older, they will not leave it.
— Proverbs 22:6

I'll use children in this example. It is your duty guide them. Right? What do they know about the world? It's a scary place. So you guide them along a path. This path you control according to your belief system. If the child stays on it then fine, you did a great job. If the child deviates then you take the necessary steps to keep this developing soul from drifting away from the path This is control but some would argue that it's called guidance.

So in a nutshell, people generally look to those who have superior knowledge or expertise. This tactic is particularly effective in times of uncertainty. For instance, there was a time when I need my shattered Galaxy S5 cellphone screen to be replaced and I came to you because of your expertise. If I knew how to fix it, would I come to you? You use all of your phone fixing jargon like digitizer, LCD and motherboard that I don't care to know. I just need it fixed. I perceive you to be the expert even more because of your lingo. You solve my specific problem and I am happy to pay you. I talk about the fear of loss in chapter 2 and I discuss how this can be nullified or reduced in chapter 5. Read them and you'll see how this all ties in. Okay. I'm almost done with the technical stuff. I'll explain that pain situation shortly.

Trappings

So how do you even perceive someone to be the authority? I'll give you an example.

Nancy was driving her car on East Street in Nassau, Bahamas. She was in desperate need of some mobile top up or minutes in Bahamian vernacular. She eventually found a street vendor and with the scratch off phone card in hand she purchased, she managed to drive while applying the minutes to her phone. She discards the scratched $5 card out of the window. This is when she heard a motorist's worst fear.

"Bomp, bomp." The alert horn of a police patrol car. Hands shaking with fear she immediately realized what she did. Busted, she began to think of every possible excuse imaginable for her actions. I won't make this any longer. The officer let her off with a warning after she picked up her litter. This was not the first time she littered or their first encounter.

The previous week, she did the same thing. She threw a bit of trash out of her window during her commute The officer was driving behind her and yelled, "Go pick that up!" as he blew his horn. He was in his personal vehicle. Well of course Nancy gave him the international f**k you as she waved her middle finger out the window. What harm could one piece of paper do? Did you pick up on who she felt was superior or inferior? I'll tell you.

It was the same officer and pick it up were the same instructions. Why did she feel that need to comply this time? Was it fear or was it recognized authority?

It was the uniform. Trappings are indicators of authority. A uniform fits into this category as well as wealth, power and attitude. So how do you use trappings to your advantage to influence?

Types of Authority

I'll talk briefly about the types authority you can use to influence.

Command

This is the most formal type of authority. For instance, my example of Nancy vs the Officer. She was compelled to obey because if she didn't, then punishment or other sanctions may be implemented.

Assumed Command

Anybody can be assumed as the authority if they simply act the part. You can give orders to complete strangers and they will obey. You'd be amazed to see that nobody even thinks to challenge you. If you are using other indicators of authority, the perception of you being the authority is even supercharged.

Subject Matter Expert

In this instance, you genuinely know more about the topic than others. You can be extremely assertive for this is your domain. If you know nothing about the law, you'd be quiet and hand it over to a lawyer. You may not assume command in many instances. However, your knowledge is highly valued and a critical component.

Assumed Expert

Attitude, attitude, attitude. It's all about your attitude. In order to become this, you will need confidence. You'll need it because this involves taking on the role of command as well as the subject matter expert.

Finally the technical stuff is out of the way and I can get on with my story. If you were paying attention, when you read the story, you'll automatically detect what type of authority influence the outcome. Pay close attention.

Two Drops in the Butt

What type of funky name is this for a story? Very funky. So the officer from the Nancy story name is Robert and he had finally given up. No more playing Mr. Macho. The stabbing pain in his right ear was becoming too unbearable. This is why ear guards are important. He was at the police shooting range the week before and you guessed it, he neglected to wear ear protection. The pain wasn't going away. In-fact, it felt like it was getting worse. It was affecting everything he did including chewing. Robert was two pounds away from being labeled fat. He would eat up to twelve midnight, anything that wasn't moving. He loved food so this pain was becoming a problem.

Dr. Musgrove had planned this months in advance. His ultimate golf vacation and he's leaving for Florida today. He was the go to ear, nose and throat specialist no doubt. A world renowned expert who treated patients the like the late Anna Nicole Smith, both Bahamian Prime Ministers Ingraham and Christie and even Michael Jordan. Plastered all over the walls of the triage room were certificates of his accomplishments. It was hard for Robert not to miss and he thinks he made the right choice. When he mentioned his discomfort to his partner Lieutenant Foxx, Dr. Musgrove came highly recommended.

Here's the dilemma. The good doc was running late and risked missing his flight. His dream vacation delayed? That was not about to happen. Robert was his last patient for the day.

Nurse Rolle handed Doctor Musgrove the triage report. "Okay. This is an easy one," he said. He walked into the examination room to see Robert. He shined his doctor's flashlight thingy into Robert's ear and yep, just as he expected, an ear infection. Before I go on, whats your opinion on doctors having the worst hand writing? Handwriting and perception play a big roll in the medical shocker that's about to happen next.

So now we're getting back on track. The good ol' Doc grabbed his prescription pad and started to do his scribble thing that doctors do. He wrote, "Ear-Clear. Administer two drops to the R ear." That's not a typo by the way. "Your gonna be just fine he," assured Robert. He left the examination room, grabbed his golf clubs from his office and he was out of there. His luggage was already packed neatly in his car from the previous night. "Have a great trip," nurse Rolle smiled as she waved goodbye. He had slipped her the prescription that he just wrote.

Imagine the blunt shock nurse Rolle experienced when she read what was on the prescription.

"This man obviously has an ear infection so why would I give him two drops of this stuff in his rear?" She interpreted administer two drops to the R ear as two drops in the Rear. What the doc actually meant was two drops in the right ear. Two drops in the rear it is.

Remember that the biggest flaw in your conditioning is perceiving that someone you assume is superior to you is the expert or the authority. Robert will soon be a victim of this one critical conditioning error. Let me explain whats happening in Nurse Rolle's mind first. This is why the authority tactic is extremely powerful.

Faulty Appeal

Something dangerous was happening inside her head. She has now contracted something contagious. A fallacy, the logical fallacy of faulty appeal to authority. The argument that a claim is true because an authority said it. To simplify this even more, Nurse Rolle falls prey to this fallacy, because she accepted the claim, two drops in the rear as true without there being adequate evidence that it would relieve a severe ear infection.

More specifically, she is accepted the claim because she erroneously believed that Dr. Musgrove's claim as a legitimate expert and hence that the claim is reasonable to accept. So why is this so contagious?

I'll stress this again. Our one critical conditioning flaw is to blame. So at this point, Nurse Rolle is about to break the news to Robert and break the news she does. I told you I would get to this eventually.

"That doesn't sound right. I don't have any butt pains, I have a pain in my right ear." This was Roberts reaction after receiving the bad news. The faulty appeal strikes with a double dose this time. If you remember earlier as Robert waited in the triage room, he saw all of the good doctor's accolades and awards and the celebrities he has treated. Also, lets not forget that the doctor came highly recommended by his partner Foxx. Adding to this, the double dose came in the form of Nurse Rolle complying with what she perceived to be the doctor's instructions. Why would he even question the subject matter experts?

The story is pretty much predictable after this, but I'll still tell it anyway. So now still in disbelief, a bit disillusioned and definitely very uncomfortable, Robert dropped his pants. He laid flat on the table and endured pretty much the most embarrassing five seconds of his life. He got two drops of ear drops in the rear.

Never Ignore the Reactance Factor

You must be very careful when you use this tactic particularly when using the Command type authority. If you are perceived to be the authority and you give instructions, always remember you strip away that person's control. In Chapter 2 titled Impulse, I talk about the fear of loss. Please review to ge a better grasp on what I am saying. This will naturally create a reaction that seeks to gain back control, which can create a stubborn fight-back against authority. This is why you're gonna have to pay attention to what I say next.

The Stalwart Effect

What I've explained so far is critical for influencing people directly but is it effective on the masses? No authority figure can ever appeal to the masses. There will always be some form of rebellion against an authoritarian. So how can this be rectified?

Lets look at Bahamian politics briefly.

I'm not about to tell you that as the perceived authoritarian, you should not attempt to appeal to the masses. You should and the reason you should is that it creates a base. There are too many personality types for you to influence directly. Whats the solution?

Its always a good idea to narrow the focus. Learn more about this in Chapter 3 titled Diversion. Political parties use Stalwart Counselors. Appointed by the leaders of the party, these people are very influential in their respective communities and have the power to convert those who are a little rebellious or in doubt, to devoted followers.

These Stalwarts have this power because people are naturally compelled to support them because they genuinely like them. I speak more on this in chapter 4 titled Build Rapport 1st. This strategy can be imported in countless situations where numbers matter. Your most difficult challenge as an authoritarian is to sell your message to these key people.

Key Points

Anybody can be perceived as the authority consciously or sub-consciously. The intent of this short book was to make you aware of the authority tactic so that you can use it as leverage in situations where compliance is needed.

This is extremely powerful if you truly understand it and now you have a tremendous responsibility. How are you going to use it? Will you use it to exploit or manipulate people? I strongly advice that you don't Always practice what you have just learned in good faith.

The keyword is practice. Please review the following;

1. We perceive people in two simple ways. We either see them as superior to us or conversely, inferior
2. The biggest flaw in human conditioning is to perceive that someone who we assume to be superior to us is the authority
3. With regards to the perception of authority, you either trust the perceived superior or you control the perceived inferior
4. Trappings are indicators of authority. With regards to trappings, people can become automatically induced to logical fallacies, particularly the faulty appeal to authority

Conclusion

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