Authority in Senior Leaders

Senior leaders almost never lose authority all at once. They lose it in small phrases, repeated over months, that they don’t even know they’re saying.

Four I’ve watched undermine smart, capable executives and what to swap them for.

1. “Sorry, can I just add something quickly?”
Translation to the room: I’m not sure I deserve to be heard. Swap for: “One thing to add here.”

2. “I might be wrong, but…”
Pre-discounting your point before you make it. The room hears the discount, not the point. Swap for: “My read is…”

3. “Does that make sense?”
Asks the room to validate your clarity. Reads as uncertainty. Swap for: “What questions does that raise?”

4. “I just wanted to…”
“Just” is the word that softens executives into invisibility. Cut it entirely.

None of these phrases will sink an executive on their own. The damage is cumulative. After six months of saying “I might be wrong” and “does that make sense,” the room has formed a quiet impression that you don’t quite believe in your own authority.

And here’s the harder truth. They’re hardest to fix in yourself because you don’t hear them when you say them.

The first move is recording yourself in a meeting (or asking a trusted colleague to flag it). The second move is replacing them deliberately for a month.

Which one of these do you suspect you say most?