The fastest way to lose authority at work is explaining these 7 things too much - Silicon Canals

"My father spent thirty years in sales management, and watching him navigate office politics taught me something crucial: Authority isn't about proving you're right. It's about knowing what doesn't need proving at all. He got passed over for promotions repeatedly, not because he wasn't competent, but because he felt compelled to explain himself constantly, as if his work couldn't speak for itself."

"You know that person who drops their credentials into every conversation? "Well, when I was getting my MBA..." or "In my fifteen years of experience..." Stop. Just stop. When you constantly remind people of your qualifications, you're essentially telling them your work isn't impressive enough to stand alone. A startup founder I interviewed put it perfectly: "The moment someone starts listing their degrees in a meeting, I know they're out of their depth." Your expertise should be evident in your contributions, not your résumé recitation."

Consistently over-explaining credentials, decisions, and actions damages perceived authority and signals insecurity. Interviews with numerous professionals reveal respected leaders refrain from justifying every choice and instead stop talking when appropriate. Long-term exposure to office politics shows that proving rightness is less authoritative than recognizing what needs no proof. Constant self-justification can lead to being overlooked for promotion despite competence. Repeated credential-dropping suggests inability to let results and contributions demonstrate expertise. True professional power derives from visible performance—decisions, insights, problem-solving—rather than repeated recitations of past achievements or qualifications.

Read at Silicon Canals