Don’t Get A Big Head Just Because You Have A Little Authority

Don’t get a big head just because you have a little authority. That line deserves to sit at the front of every new leader’s mind, because the moment a title shows up, so does the temptation to treat it like it earned something it did not. A badge, a promotion, or a new seat at the table changes what someone is responsible for. It does not automatically change how much they actually know.

Where A Little Title Creates A Big Problem

New field engineers, project coordinators, and assistant superintendents step into construction with a title before they have the tenure to match it. That gap is normal, and it is not the problem. The problem shows up when someone treats a fresh title as license to speak down to a foreman, a vendor, or a trade partner who has spent decades learning the exact craft that title is supposed to help coordinate. A little authority, handled carelessly, becomes a big head fast, and once it does, it shows up in tone, in emails, and in the small decisions nobody else in the room ever sees.

When Position Gets Confused With Superiority

The failure pattern is simple to spot once it is named. Somebody earns a title, a badge, a seat at the table, and quietly starts treating that title as proof they know more than the people around them, especially the people technically below them on a contract chain. A general contractor’s coordinator talks down to a vendor. A young assistant PM gets short and condescending with a trade partner foreman who has been in the field for thirty years. The title changed overnight. The wisdom did not, and pretending otherwise is where the real trouble starts.

The System Failed Them, They Didn’t Fail The System

The system failed them, they did not fail the system. Nobody hands a new field engineer or project coordinator a lesson on how to carry authority well. Most onboarding covers software, safety, and process, but almost none of it covers humility. Without that lesson, a new title can quietly curdle into condescension, not because someone set out to be disrespectful, but because nobody ever drew the line between having a position and having earned superiority.

A Rude Email And An Honest Confession

A recent example makes the point directly. A project coordinator sent a genuinely rude, condescending email over a difficult project where extra effort and extra help were already being poured in to make things work. The instinct in that moment was to want to walk away entirely rather than keep working with someone treating the relationship that way. What makes the story worth telling is the honest admission that followed it, a recognition that this same condescending behavior showed up decades earlier, aimed at trade partner foremen who were forty, fifty, sixty years old, simply because a young area assistant superintendent had not yet learned to respect a lifetime of field wisdom sitting right in front of him. Looking back on it now, that old version of stiff necked, hard nosed behavior is exactly what needed to change first.

Why This Distinction Matters

This matters because construction runs on relationships that get tested and rebuilt project after project. Trade partners, vendors, and foremen remember who treated them with respect and who treated them like an obstacle. A single condescending email or a dismissive tone in a trailer meeting can quietly cost a company a trade partner relationship that took years to build. Respect is not a soft skill on the side of the job. It is the thing that keeps the same good people willing to work with you again on the next project, and the one after that.

Authority Without Wisdom Is Just Noise

There is an old saying worth carrying into every new title. The smart man glories in all he knows. The wise man is humbled that he knows no more. A title can make someone smart on paper, familiar with software, systems, and processes. Only time, humility, and enough hard lessons turn that smart person into a wise one. Confusing the two is exactly how a little authority turns into a big head.

Position Is Not The Same As Respect Earned

Nobody automatically deserves disrespect because of where they sit on a contract chain. A third tier subcontractor, a small vendor, a foreman without a college degree, none of that changes how much respect that person is owed. Being the general contractor, or the one holding the purchase order, or the one running the meeting does not make anyone better than the people they are coordinating. It only makes them responsible for coordinating well, and coordinating well starts with respect, not with rank.

What This Looks Like When It Goes Right

The correction is not complicated. Treat every trade partner, vendor, and foreman the way their experience actually deserves, regardless of title, position, tenure gap, or how junior the person delivering the message happens to be. Ask questions instead of issuing commands to people who have forgotten more about their craft than a new hire has learned. Say thank you. Assume competence before assuming ignorance. None of this costs anything, and all of it protects relationships that a company depends on far longer than any single project, especially in an industry where the same trade partners and vendors show up on job after job for years.

Signs Authority Is Going To Your Head

Watch for these patterns in yourself before someone else has to point them out.

• Speaking to vendors or trade partners in a tone you would not accept from someone else
• Assuming your title means you know more than someone with decades of field experience
• Feeling irritated when a foreman or vendor pushes back on a decision
• Forgetting to say thank you to the people actually doing the work

Connect To Mission

None of this means avoiding hard conversations or lowering your standards. If your project needs superintendent coaching, project support, or leadership development, Elevate Construction can help your field teams stabilize, schedule, and flow. It means holding those standards while still treating every person on the project, regardless of position, with the respect their experience has actually earned. A leader can be direct, demanding, and still deeply respectful, all at the same time.

Ways To Keep Authority In Check

Use these the next time a title tempts you to talk down to someone.

• Ask yourself how many years of experience the other person has before you speak
• Say thank you to trade partners and vendors as often as you correct them
• Replace commands with questions when you are unsure of the full picture
• Apologize quickly and directly when a tone comes out wrong

A Challenge For Every New Leader

Here is the challenge this week. Notice the next time a title, a badge, or a little bit of authority tempts you to speak down to someone with more field experience than you have. Pause, and choose respect instead, even if the moment feels small at the time. As Jason has said, we have got to figure out how to not throw people away going forward, and that starts with never treating a person as less than simply because of where they sit on a contract chain.

On we go.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why do new leaders sometimes become disrespectful toward experienced trade partners? A new title can create a false sense of superiority before real field wisdom has been earned, and without training on how to carry authority well, that gap can quietly turn into condescension over time.

Does a person’s position on a contract chain determine how much respect they deserve? No. A vendor, a third tier subcontractor, or a foreman without a formal title still deserves the same baseline respect as anyone else on the project, regardless of contractual hierarchy.

How can a leader tell if authority is starting to go to their head? Common signs include speaking to trade partners in a tone they would not accept themselves, feeling irritated by pushback from experienced people, and forgetting to say thank you to the people actually doing the work.

Why does respecting tenure and experience matter for a company long term? Trade partners and vendors remember how they were treated, and disrespect can quietly end relationships that took years to build, while respect keeps good people willing to work together again on future projects.

What is the difference between having authority and having earned respect? Authority comes from a title or position, while respect is earned through wisdom, humility, and how consistently someone treats people well, which is why a title alone should never be mistaken for superiority.