Authority and honesty

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I don't know if this is relevant or what I want to get from this post, but anyway.

I have observed recently that using authority (in the sense of being the legitimate superior of someone and giving them orders) seems to be based on dishonesty. The orders generally are full of exagerations, of

Let me give me an example. This week, my manager issued a directive not to accept $100 and $50 bills because an employee accepted several false ones. We already had this policy because we only keep a limited amount in our cash register and cannot give enough change, but otherwise we did not refuse them if the amount was high (e.g. I will accept a $50 for $40's worth of beer, but not $100 for a sandwich). Now, he said not to accept any, no questions asked. I personnally went to see him, and explained why I disagreed with the policy (I am very careful and always check even lower denominations for security measures). He said he was fine with my doing like I always did, and I felt that he didn't expect anyone to even apply these measures. So... why give the order, if you don't expect it to be followed, or don't care if it isn't?

In contrast, I have been recently in positions of authority, with different results. I was recently assigned as some sort of supervisor at my old school's French grammar help center (very shortly, it stopped for unrelated political). It was I who closed the room, and I was basically the higher authority there from 17:00 to 18:00 after the teacher left. I told the other instructors that I didn't mind when they left because I still had several chapters to read for one of my classes, and that reading in there or at home was the same to me, so far as the library hadn't closed by then (the room is in the library) -- because that was entirely truthful.

I think it is related to the famous "Asperger's syndrome honesty" -- and that is from someone who doesn't have a particular problem with lying when necessary. I transmit my instructions, data and wishes: I am responsible for closing, I am paid until 18:00, I don't really care when you leave, but everything must be closed when the library closes. I would have been utterly incapable of forcing them out at 18:05 because I wasn't payed, since I (truly) didn't care, and I don't see how I could possibly have managed it otherwise.

I don't know if this made sense, but anyway...

I think the whole "Aurthority is based on dishonesty" theory you have brought up can be attributed to the individual in power in that if they are dishonest then their leadership style may have more dishonest traits.
Also if for example your boss had a boss and that boss had given a directive to your boss that s/he didn't believe as important/attainable/realistic then your boss may simply not care if you followed these directives... hope that made sence!
You may simply be a trustworthy person so surly there is nothing wrong with that.

I might have expressed myself wrongly. What I wanted to point out was that he wanted us to be more careful with high denomination bills, and to make us be more careful (which I was already anyway), he said that we shouldn't accept them at all, probably because my colleagues are mostly lazy and incompetent if left alone. I would never be able to say this if I didn't think it, so I conclude that my authority is weak, as indeed I observe that it is. I shouldn't have said that authority is based on dishonesty, rather that the honesty found in Asperger's syndrome can weaken one's authority, if not necessarly one,s leadership (I can lead by example).