Authority is useful. It clarifies decisions, assigns responsibility and helps a group move. But authority and leadership are not the same thing. One comes from a role; the other is granted, often quietly, by the people around us.
A revealing question is what happens when the leader is absent. Do people still understand the purpose? Can they make sensible trade-offs? Do they tell one another the truth, especially when it is inconvenient?
The strongest leaders do not try to remain essential to every decision. They build context, judgement and confidence in other people. Their influence persists because the team has learned how to think, not merely what to do.
Leadership, then, is not measured by how much depends on us. It may be better measured by how much can continue without us.