[macfarbt]

Very much there is a delineation between authority and leadership. Authority is the right to do work either formally through policy/power or informally through influence/trust.

Authority has to be granted whereas leadership is something anyone can take up regardless of role. Leadership is the ability to drive change, an act not a position. Just because someone has a lot of authority doesn't not mean they act as leaders, if they operate purely for individual means. In my eyes there is a morality, but that's my personal approach.

Thanks, I really connect with your point that it's the managee to decide whether to carry out what the manager requires. In the knowledge economy we work at will (though may be constrained by perceived needed.)