Authority

I am reading the book A Tale of Three Kings by Gene Edwards. It's the story of Saul, David and Absalom. The following quote about authority was interesting to me:

"As far as David's having authority: men who don't have it talk about it all the time. Submit, submit, that's all you hear. David had authority, but I don't think that fact ever occurred to him!"

Are you in leadership? Do you have to demand those under your care to respect your authority? A good leader has authority, but does not demand it. He doesn't need to. If you see a leader who has to demand authority, I would wonder what the real problem is. My guess is that the problem doesn't lie with the followers.