Leading / influencing without authority, is the skill of achieving influence/sway/direction over a decision/project/activity that you are not the authority over. This is useful when Managing Up, or working with peers, and when you actually do have authority.
Understand before influencing1:
- understand the culture and context of the organization â Seek First to Understand
- Know the degrees of separation (measure of social distance between people). The farther you are from someone, the harder it is to influence.
Ways to influence without authority1:
- Psychologist: Understand the motivations and context of who youâre trying to influence & then working backwards to reach an outcome.
- Pitcher: Constantly exploring and trying different ways of framing ideas that you want to influence.
- Activist: Creating large movements by regularly sharing stories, perspectives and facts.
1. Tse, M. & Rubick, J. How to influence without authority. (2020).