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Me in front of the class busy explaining the learners about the globe.

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Here I did a concert with some of the teachers to help with funds for the less fortunate learners.

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Explaining the learners how to get from the school to the clinic.

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I will always try to mix with my colleagues in a happy way. 

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I will always try to mix with my colleagues in a happy way. 

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It is important to show happiness as others will feel your feelings when you are unhappy.

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Edutopia is a free source of information, inspiration, and practical strategies for learning and teaching in preK-12 education. We are published by the George Lucas Educational Foundation, a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization.

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A spread sheet file showing how I will add class marks and percentages.

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How I would deal with authority. And how I can be more authoritative.

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How I would deal with authority. And how I can be more authoritative.

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If you want to be taken more seriously at work, take a look at how authoritative you appear. Many people, especially newer managers, undermine their own authority without realizing it, and then wonder why they're not more respected.

Here are 10 ways to exude confidence and appear more authoritative at work:

1. Get clear on your own authority. Often, managers and others with authority squander it by acting as if it's not part of their role. So if you have the authority to make decisions, move projects forward, give feedback, resolve personnel problems, and so forth, act like it. Get very clear in your own head (and with your own boss, if necessary) about precisely what authority you have, then speak and act with the confidence of your position.

2. Get aligned with your boss behind the scenes. There's no faster way to destroy your authority than to say one thing and then have your boss reverse it later. To avoid this, get aligned with your supervisor on tricky or sensitive issues ahead of time. By getting in synch upfront, you'll be able to act with more confidence, knowing that you won't later learn that your boss had an entirely different take on the topic than you did. (Plus, your boss will probably appreciate the opportunity to get aligned ahead of time, too.)

3. Know what to say when you don't know the answer. You might not know how to handle every situation that comes your way, but you can still respond with confidence. Phrases like "You've given me a lot to think about, so let me get back to you" or "I appreciate you raising this, and I'll think it over" let you exit tough conversations gracefully.

4. Don't get angry or upset. People who are confident in their own authority know they don't need to get angry or upset with others because they have the authority to fix problems. Getting upset will undermine you, since it signals that you don't know a more effective way to respond. For instance, if you're talking with an employee about a performance problem, you might sound concerned, but you shouldn't sound angry or hostile. You should be confident that you have the tools to back up your words with action if you need to.

5. Stop worrying about being liked. Your focus should be on being respected and effective, not on being liked. And to be effective, you'll need to assert yourself without worrying about others' approval, deliver hard messages, and make decisions that not everyone will like. But if you're deeply invested in being liked, you're likely to sacrifice the very behaviors that will make people take you seriously.

6. Pay attention to your tone of voice. Don't shy away from declarative statements, and don't end sentences with a question mark unless they're truly questions. If you sound hesitant or unsure as a habit, people will assume that you either don't really have the authority you should or that you're not willing to use it.

7. Get rid of fillers like "um," "I think," etc. Be disciplined about erasing these fillers from your speaking, because they'll water down your point and make you look nervous and less confident in what you're saying.

8. Become comfortable with silence. If you've ever seen someone rush to fill silence by chattering nervously, you know how it can diminish their authority. So when you're speaking, make your point, and then stop. Similarly, it's fine to pause before responding to a question. Confident people assume that others will wait for them to speak, and that they don't need to rush in to respond before they've formulated their thoughts.

9. Drop the defensiveness. While responding defensively when your decisions are questioned is generally an attempt to protect your authority, it will actually make you come across as less confident and less in charge. Confident people are open to the possibility that they might be mistaken or that there might be a better way of doing something.

10. Be direct. Rather than shying away from difficult or awkward conversations, you'll appear far more authoritative if you simply say what needs to be said, directly and straightforwardly. Assume that addressing problems head-on is a key part of your job, and act accordingly.
Alison Green writes the popular Ask a Manager blog, where she dispenses advice on career, job search, and management issues. She's also the co-author of Managing to Change the World: The Nonprofit Manager's Guide to Getting Results, and former chief of staff of a successful nonprofit organization, where she oversaw day-to-day staff management, hiring, firing, and employee development.

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10 Ways to Appear More Authoritative at Work

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If you want to be taken more seriously at work, take a look at how authoritative you appear. Many people, especially newer managers, undermine their own authority without realizing it, and then wonder why they're not more respected. Here are 10 ways to exude confidence and appear more authoritative at work: 1.

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I will be a good add to any school with my knowledge and love for rugby.

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How and why people at school will challenge my authority.

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How and why people at school will challenge my authority.

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Why Your Challenging Employee May Be Helpful

You've probably faced this situation before.

You are working with your team members to implement needed change in your organization. As you conduct your weekly implementation team meeting, you can see the body language of one of your more experienced -and vocal- team members start to change.

Irritation fills his or her face as you explain the next steps for the project. His or her eyes constrict and their facial muscles tighten when you look at him or her.

You continue with your discussion but you get a familiar rush of adrenaline as you watch the dynamic unfold around you. You've been here before and you know what is about to happen. Your experienced and vocal team member is about to derail this team meeting with another verbal dismantling of your plans for your group.

Sure enough it happens!

Your team member cannot keep silent any longer. He or she presents a list of problems with your approach in their customary devastating barrage of anecdotes, facts, and organizational observations.

As your team member finishes talking, you look around the room at the rest of your team members. Once again you see the confusion in the faces of the rest of your group.

You've been taking some management training so this time you manage to withhold showing your irritation with your team member. You may appear calm to your group, but the truth is that inside you are seething with anger.

Recognizing that you need some time both to respond intelligently to the devastating barrage of your team member and to manage your emotions, you agree to postpone implementing your next steps for the project. Instead, you quickly pivot to another topic and you effectively redirect your group from focusing too much on this latest conflict with your outspoken team member.

After the meeting ends, you do some reflecting about this team member. Your thoughts center on the following:

What's the issue with this team member?

Why does he or she keep challenging your authority?

Does he or she want your job?

While you do not have a definitive answer to these three questions, what you do know is that you have had enough of their challenging behavior. You're ready to give them your own verbal dismantling.

You may be ready to confront your team member, but, before you do, take a moment to exercise some of your emotional intelligence. Take a little time to manage your emotions and look at the situation objectively.

As you do this, consider the unthinkable: Maybe, your team member was right to "challenge your authority." Just maybe, your team member's observations about your implementation approach were correct.

If so, take some time to evaluate the best strategy to use to resolve this conflict with your employee. Ultimately, doing what is best is not only good for your operation but it's also good for your leadership reputation in your organization.

Employees who challenge your authority may be doing you a favor! Click To Tweet

Why Employees Challenge Your Authority

There can be many reasons why one of your team members appears to challenge your authority, and those reasons may not be because of some ill will they have towards you.

Here's an excerpt from a question I recently answered on Quora about this issue:

As you think about how to respond to your team member who challenges you, it is important to separate appropriate from inappropriate behavior. In general, you want your team members to challenge your opinion so you can get the best results.

If you have a team of yes-people who always agree with you, then they're not necessary because they are not helping you to be a better leader. Click To Tweet

This is something that you can actively encourage in the workplace. Ask for disagreement especially if you feel you are missing valuable feedback.

As you evaluate your team member's behavior for appropriateness, however, here's a couple of points for you to consider:

Your team member may have a better understanding than you of what needs to be done.

Your team members are closest to the work that you do so their perspective is valuable. It's possible that your team member knows better than you what should occur in the organization, and your team member is simply expressing what she or he knows to be right. If this is the case, then you want to add their voice to your operational decision making.

Evaluate your team member's position based on the merit of what she or he is proposing and not on how you feel about her or him. When your team member is correct, acknowledge it and incorporate her or his feedback in your operations. If you do this, you may find that her or his behavior starts to change toward you. Sometimes a person can appear to be acting out when all that they want is to be heard.

It's OK and even good for your leadership career for your employees to disagree with you at times. Click To Tweet

Everyone has a different personality style

Some people can come across as hostile because of their personality style. For example, in their communication with you, a team member may be opinionated and quick to express how they feel. They may even do this with emotion.

Your personality style might be different, however. You could be more cautious and unemotional in your communication style. You might use data and facts more than your opinion to express how you feel.

In this instance, you may be viewing your team member as being hostile to you when in fact they are just different from you. If this is the case, you have to allow people who work for you to be different. As managers, it's not our job to make everyone in our own image. We have to find a person's unique value and incorporate that into workplace operations.

In allowing people to be different, you improve your leadership effectiveness. If you look beyond your team member's style, you may notice that he or she is often right in their opinions. Their value to you may be his or her ability to quickly and accurately assess a situation (without all of the data). That's something that you want to incorporate into your business operations.

Don't mistake personality style differences as a challenge to your authority. Click To Tweet

In this Quora answer, I described legitimate reasons why your team member may be constantly challenging you in the workplace. I'll add another important point here.

One way to avoid awkward situations like these where it feels like your authority is being challenged is to invite feedback from your team members earlier in the process. If your approach is to ask for feedback from your team only when you have independently developed a plan, then you leave them no other option but to challenge your ideas.

How to Handle Employees Who Are Undermining Your Authority

Sometimes situations like these are more of a .

There may be some adjustments you need to make as the leader of your group, AND there may be some adjustments your team member needs to make in what she or he does.

For example, a problem managers frequently face is how to deal with a team member who talks about the manger behind the manager's back. Let's say that this is what you are facing too. Your team member is probably knowledgeable and productive, but you find that he or she frequently criticizes you behind your back. And, they talk about you behind your back to anyone who will listen to them.

Why does this employee badmouth you behind your back?

It's probably because he or she does not agree with the decisions you make. They may even feel that they should have your job. You do need to address this issue and you will need all of your emotional intelligence to do so.

Here's a final excerpt from my same Quora answer that addresses how you should handle the employee who is undermining your authority:

Addressing Inappropriate Behavior

After you make this evaluation, you may find that certain aspects of your team member's behavior are unproductive. He or she may be right in what they have to say but they may also be creating tension in the organization.

For example, once you heard and considered everyone's input and made a decision, your team member may still actively undermine your credibility by criticizing you to everyone that will listen. If this is the case, then you need to address his or her behavior.

Before you do however, it's critical that you identify the impact of your team member's behavior. While you may feel justified in just putting a stop to their continual criticism, you need to tell them something more than, "Stop the criticism!" You need to explain the impact that their behavior is having in the workplace.

For example, does productivity suffer because team members start to question what they are doing and why? Are you losing time having to respond to multiple inquiries from your peers and boss about what you are doing? Are you losing customers because the team is not following your instructions?

Once you identify this information, it's time to have a coaching session with your team member. Your goal here should be to change your team member's behavior not get rid of him or her. They have value to you and your organization; you just need your team member to change his or her behavior.

To achieve these two goals, I'd suggest that you use the 7 Step coaching model that I outline in this article: Motivation - 7 Steps for Coaching Difficult Employees.

Video: How to Handle Employees Who Challenge Your Authority

Employees who question what you are doing may be doing you a favor! Would you prefer them to speak up or do you want them to blindly follow you as you go over a cliff? Click To Tweet

Written by Robert Tanner | Copyrighted Material | All Rights Reserved Worldwide

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how to handle employees who are undermining your authority

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Two Reasons Why Employees Challenge Your Authority

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You've probably faced this situation before. You are working with your team members to implement needed change in your organization. As you conduct your weekly implementation team meeting, you can see the body language of one of your more experienced -and vocal- team members start to change.

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Laerskool Julian Muller where I'm busy teaching.

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Find local businesses, view maps and get driving directions in Google Maps.

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A voice clip of me speaking to a class.

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Power point made by me about Social Science.

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Power point made by me about Social Science.

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Reading a book about Brain O' Driscoll. My hero.

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Reading a book about Brain O' Driscoll. My hero.

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My first task where I must explain directions on google maps.

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My first task where I must explain directions on google maps.

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A video clip of me teaching in front of the class.

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A video clip of me teaching in front of the class.