Authority has no power to change minds. Only to require compliance.
Minds are changed from within. The only way to reach someone is to help them reach themselves.
And authority is a terrible way to do that.
When I have authority, I have no way of knowing if I’m reaching anyone. Are they saying they “get it” because they want to impress me? Are they doing it to curry favor with me? To avoid punishment? To avoid losing their job? Are they doing it to get my money? Are they doing it because being associated with me will bring them status or strategic protection? Authority muddies the water of whether or not my work is having any effect.
If I truly want to to reach someone, I can release myself from my imagined authority over them. I can assume the humblest possible position of openness and not-knowing. I can be totally present and let the way of it bring us both to exactly where we need to be (which is always what’s happening prior to my story of a need to change someone’s always-perfect mind).
There is no way to truly reach anyone without also being reached myself. When I really reach someone, it’s because we reach each other.
In the end, the only mind that ever needs changing is mine. And the only reason it ever needs changing is to clear up its false notions about what needs changing.