Who Has the Right to Lead – and Who Do We Truly Want to Follow?

The Scene in Chaos

Imagine a large event. The audience is waiting impatiently, the technology is failing, the sound is cutting out, and stress is spreading backstage. On paper, there is a project manager who holds the title and the formal responsibility.

But when the pressure grows, something happens. People’s eyes don’t necessarily turn to the one with the title – they turn to the one who remains calm and steady. The person who doesn’t panic, but breathes, keeps perspective, and projects stability. That calm becomes contagious, and suddenly it is obvious who everyone wants to follow.

No one formally appoints a new leader in that moment, but the shift is clear. Leadership emerges organically. It is not titles that determine it, but trust – the trust people give to the one who provides direction and security.

The Formal Right

Of course, there is such a thing as a formal right to leadership. Someone is appointed as a manager or leader within an organization. That person receives the mandate, the resources, and the authority to make decisions. This is necessary for organizations to function.

But it is far from the whole truth. Being formally appointed as a leader does not automatically mean that people want to follow you. Titles may grant power, but they do not guarantee genuine influence. There are plenty of managers who carry the responsibility yet lack the trust. They can enforce results, but they rarely inspire loyalty or engagement.

The Informal Right

Alongside formal authority exists the informal right to lead – the right that isn’t written down anywhere, but that people grant to the one who earns their confidence.

This can happen in projects, in organizations, or in society at large. When uncertainty arises, people don’t instinctively follow the loudest voice. They turn to the person who radiates composure. Leadership is therefore not always distributed according to hierarchy, but often shifts to the one who proves most stable when stability is most needed.

This informal right to lead is built on experience, presence, the ability to listen, and the skill to create order in chaos. It is this right that often weighs the heaviest when words collide with actions.

Who Do We Want to Follow?

The question then becomes: who do we truly want to follow?

• We follow those who provide stability when the world feels unstable.

• We follow those who are authentic, who don’t need to perform a role to earn respect.

• We follow those who can point to a direction, even when the path ahead is unclear.

• And we follow those who see others, who lift people around them instead of seeking the spotlight for themselves.

Leadership, then, is not primarily about commanding. It is about building trust. Not about speaking the loudest, but about listening with the deepest attention.

When Experience Outweighs Manuals

There is an important dimension often overlooked: experience. The person who has already weathered storms, handled failures, and learned through reality carries something different than the one who has only studied theory.

People notice the difference. You cannot pretend to be steady. Either you carry the weight of experience within you, or you do not. That is why we so often find that people prefer to follow those who have been tested – those who have felt both success and failure – because that history breeds resilience.

The Paradox of Leadership

Here lies a paradox. Those who chase leadership the hardest, who eagerly pursue power and influence, are often the least suited to hold it.

The strongest leaders are rarely those who demand the role, but those whom people naturally turn to. They already carry an inner steadiness – a foundation that allows them to remain when others falter. That is why their leadership feels genuine and natural.

Leadership is not about domination. It is about holding the direction. It is about being anchored.

Locus of Control

A useful concept here is locus of control. Those with an internal locus of control believe that life is largely shaped by their own actions and decisions, rather than by external forces. That sense of responsibility and agency makes a crucial difference.

A leader with an internal locus of control doesn’t need to shout or enforce authority to be followed. When circumstances become difficult, they remain steady – and for that very reason, others want to follow.

This is where the true right to leadership lies – not in the ability to compel, but in the ability to endure.

The Difference Between a Manager and a Leader

There is a crucial distinction between being a manager and being a leader. A manager has formal authority. A leader is someone people actually want to follow.

An organization can have many managers and still lack leadership. At the same time, a team or a community can discover leadership in someone without a title at all.

Leadership must therefore always be understood as something larger than formal roles. It is a relationship, not a position.

Final Reflection

So, who truly has the right to lead? Formal authority is distributed through titles and mandates. But real leadership is earned in the moment – in the trust people give you when it matters most.

And who do we want to follow? Not the loudest, not the one with the most titles. We follow those who are authentic, those who provide stability, those who dare to set a direction, and those who lift others.

Perhaps the most important question is not: “Do I have the power to lead?” but rather:

“Do people follow me because they have to – or because they want to?”

That is where the difference between power and leadership lies.
And that is the moment in which the real decision is made, every time chaos or change arrives.