Power Moves: Authority That Drives Global Appointments

Appointments to senior and global roles do not occur by accident. They are the result of sustained, strategic authority that leaders build, signal, and embody long before titles change or announcements are made.

Global appointments are most often the outcome of intentional credibility, trust, and strategic presence. Imelda’s insights highlight how leaders stay prepared and position themselves for roles that carry global responsibility and impact. The episode is grounded in real-world leadership experience and offers a lens through which senior leaders can reflect on how authority progresses in practice.

Authority Was Built Before the Appointment

There is a distinction between performance and authority. High performance is necessary, but it does not, in itself, generate global appointment opportunities.

Those come from authority that has been:

• Designed rather than assumed

• Recognized long before opportunity aligns

• Signaled consistently across roles and contexts

• Integrated with credibility and trust

In Episode 58 of The Authority Advantage Podcast, Imelda Lutebinga, Country Director of DHL Tanzania LTD and a multi-award-winning global C-suite executive, explores this dynamic with precision and depth. She focuses on how leaders cultivate authority that precedes opportunity, and why transitions that matter are rarely spontaneous or reactive.

Power Moves Before a Move Was Needed

The episode underscored that the most effective career transitions did not occur when a leader was in motion toward them. They occurred when leaders made power moves before the roles were open.

Power moves are strategic choices , shaping reputation, deepening stakeholder trust, and strengthening leadership presence, that signal readiness well in advance of appointment.

This approach reframes senior and global appointments as designed authority progressions, not reactive escalations.

What Leaders Learned

The conversation affirms that:

• Transitions to global roles are strategic

• Authority must be designed  before it is appointed

• Credibility travels across roles, markets, and expectations

• Effective transitions are proactive, not reactive

Engage the Conversation

For senior leaders and decision-makers who are defining their next phase of influence, Power Moves: Authority That Drives Global Appointments offers a rigorous, experience-anchored perspective on how authority evolves into opportunity. The episode complements this article by giving voice to lived executive experience and practical insights.

Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or YouTube and reflect on how authority has shaped, and continues to shape, your own leadership progression.