Influencing without authority is a crucial skill for leaders—and it often separates top performers from the rest of the pack. It refers to the ability to influence others, even when you technically have no organizational power over them. This means you don’t have to be an executive to develop influence and lead people in the workplace.
Managerial roles are the primary sources of direct authority in the workplace, but there are many other ways to develop influence without organizational authority. These include relationship building, organizational understanding, and developing expertise, all of which you can leverage to encourage others to follow your lead.
The State of Today’s Workplace
The modern workplace has undergone a massive overhaul over the past few years, with teams around the globe having to adjust to the challenges of the pandemic quickly. While the pandemic catalyzed the shift to hybrid work, these changes have been a long time coming, with the themes of these changes present for the past decade.
First, we’re increasingly becoming a technology-enabled workplace. Today’s teams rely on various apps and tools to get more work done- from communication platforms to data analytics and visualization tools.
Second, although technology and automation are now prevailing in almost every industry, businesses remain incredibly human, with organizations still heavily relying on their employees to work together towards a unified goal. This is especially true for knowledge-based industries where staff often need to collaborate across various departments.
Third, as work styles and the workplace evolve, so does productivity. An increasing number of businesses are now embracing flexible working techniques to maximize efficiency—some employees may opt for an early morning shift while others prefer a late-night one. This new way of operating allows teams and companies alike to get the most out of their time and ensure that everyone is on board with how tasks will be accomplished.
Fourth, now more than ever, we live in a globally connected world. This requires effective coordination and efficiency when working with teams across time zones and geography. This is also why cross-functional collaboration has increased by 50% over the last decade, taking up a valuable chunk of employees’ time and sometimes hampering productivity.
What does all this mean for the future of work? In this era of technological interconnectedness, collaboration and innovation are essential for businesses to grow. Never before has it been so easy for companies to create solutions that solve customer problems, with great ideas coming from anywhere imaginable. It’s an incredibly exciting time in the industry as teams strive toward their shared objectives.
Rather than solely relying on executives or leaders with formal authority to implement decisions set from the top, numerous organizations can benefit from ideas and innovation from any level. Innovation is not just “top-down” anymore, as some of the greatest ideas that offer value for your customers may come from anywhere within the organization.
This also means that you, as an individual employee, can influence others and lead initiatives, even when you don’t have a formal position of power. By developing the skill of influence without authority, you can stand out from your peers and have an impact that goes beyond any title or organizational status.
Challenges in The Hybrid Workplace
While collaboration fosters a sense of camaraderie and encourages problem-solving, it also presents a unique set of challenges for hybrid employees. First, we’re constantly contending with workplace distractions. Studies show that the average employee gets disrupted 56 times a day—this means that to capture people’s attention and win their focus, you need to be strategic about how you communicate and interact with them.
And because everyone has the potential to come up with a great idea, there is constant competition for others’ undivided attention. This means you really have to stand out or have good relationships with other people to make them pay attention and listen to what you’re saying.
The rise of cross-functional projects also means that you may often find yourself in a position where you are being asked to lead a team or project to achieve a desired goal. But since you don’t have formal authority over other teams, for example, you can’t just tell them what to do.
Lastly, working with different people in different geographies and time zones and through different technologies can be quite challenging. Building influence over a distributed team you haven’t spent much time with can be tricky and requires an effective communication strategy.
How to Actively Build Your Influence
As our workplace shifts towards a more connected, collaborative, and collective environment, the idea of “getting things done” is no longer about your work ethic or skill alone; it’s also about how you use those to influence others. That means developing the ability not just to accomplish tasks on your own but also learning how to get results without having direct authority over people.
So how do you get others to pay attention to you, to support your cause or ideas, or to give you their time and attention when they might have their own priorities and to make lists?
The key is to build your credibility and be able to influence without authority.
This means learning how to build great relationships with your peers, gaining a deep knowledge of how the organization works, and honing your areas of expertise. Doing so will help you achieve project goals, share innovative ideas, and demonstrate excellence in leadership at work.
No matter what stage you are in your career, building influence at work is a crucial aspect of your role if you want to be successful. Here are five ways to get started:
1. Market Your Work
While doing excellent work is undoubtedly essential, others won’t notice it if you don’t make it a point to share your work. Whether you’re sharing your successes on social media, talking to colleagues in person or via email, or simply providing updates during team meetings, ensuring that people know what you are working on and the value it adds is crucial to building influence.
This is particularly helpful in large organizations where standing out from a sea of employees can be difficult. Sharing good work will help you build credibility and also allow others to learn from your experiences. By doing so, you’re also opening up your work for potential feedback, which can also improve your work and help you grow.
A great way to start sharing more frequently and easily is through the practice of internal marketing. Internal marketing involves showcasing your work and ideas via documentation, thus allowing everyone on your team to be aware of what’s going on, enabling them to collaborate more efficiently so that together you can achieve larger goals. This practice is a critical skill for knowledge workers, especially since we often get so lost in the day-to-day work that we forget to think about the bigger picture.
2. Intentionally Build Relationships
Research shows that building a friendly relationship takes 40 to 200 hours. While work relationships are slightly different from friend relationships, the basic principle of investing time still applies.
As such, it’s essential to make sure you are carving out time in your schedule to get to know people better and intentionally engage with those around you. This could mean having lunch with a colleague, taking them up on an invitation for coffee or tea, or just simply striking up conversations that have nothing to do with work at the office.
Creating an environment of trust and respect will help you not only build relationships but also establish yourself as a leader who is capable of being influential without having direct authority.
Establishing connections is essential in today’s age of interconnectedness, yet many people fail to take the time to do so. To fix this issue and become successful at it, you must shift your mindset and see relationship building as an integral part of your job that deserves devoted attention.
You don’t have to spend hours attempting to build relationships though! Here are some simple tips for how you can efficiently form connections in your daily job tasks:
- 15-minute hellos with colleagues or acquaintances
- Information-sharing sessions with potential partners or customers
- Networking events, team-building activities, or even quick conversations in the hallway or over the proverbial water cooler or coffee machine
3. Take on the Facilitator Role
People often get so preoccupied with their own goals and priorities that they forget to accommodate others’ needs. Taking on the role of the facilitator will admittedly entail a bit of extra effort, but it’s also a great way to build your influence and cultivate professional relationships.
Facilitate connections between people and ideas by looking out for the collective good of your group and fostering a sense of camaraderie. This could mean creating an open atmosphere in meetings where everyone feels comfortable in contributing or simply being mindful of the needs and perspectives of your colleagues when making decisions. The goal is to ensure that people feel supported so that they can thrive together as a team.
One concrete way to implement this is by breaking down silos in organizations, which can happen surprisingly often. If, for example, you find that the project you’ve been working on is related or completely similar to what another team is cooking up, bring the two teams together so that they can collaborate and share resources.
You can also create collaborative spaces for individuals with similar roles or shared objectives. People can exchange feedback on the projects they are working on, connect with others from different teams, and ultimately enable everyone involved to benefit from broader perspectives and collective experiences.
The facilitator role is not only especially important for those in non-formal leadership positions, but it’s also an excellent skill for anyone to have. Showing that you care about other people will build trust and ultimately make it easier for you to influence the way people think and act without having direct authority.
4. Vocalize Your Ideas Freely
Finally, it’s important to make sure you’re sharing your ideas and opinions. Even if you don’t have a formal title or authority, sharing your expertise can help cultivate influence over others. We’ve talked about sharing your work, and while this is crucial, especially for big projects, being in the habit of openly vocalizing your ideas is also a good way to build influence.
Be intentional about speaking up in meetings, take the initiative to comment on articles or blog posts related to your organization, or offer insights—even if it’s just on an informal basis. Although you don’t need to share your insights and expertise every day, it’s important to do so regularly enough that people recognize the value of what you have to offer and build trust in your ideas.
Know when and how to communicate your thoughts in order to ensure they’re taken seriously and think carefully before you jump into conversations. If applicable, take time to strategize and decide which channels are the most appropriate for what you have to say. Lastly, strive for clarity and precision when you articulate your message. Taking the time to thoughtfully speak up will show that you take yourself seriously, which in turn can help increase your influence.
Conclusion
Cultivating influence without authority is an important skill to have if you want to stand out in the workplace and be successful, regardless of your current role. Today’s global distributed and technology-driven workplace does away with traditional hierarchical structures and embraces collaboration, opening more opportunities for everyone to pitch in and make their ideas known.
If you’re looking to increase your influence without relying on traditional authority, consider trying out the tips mentioned above. From networking and advocating for yourself to creating collaborative spaces, there are many ways to make a lasting impression outside formal roles. It takes time, effort, and patience to establish your influence, but when done in the right way, you can make a real impact on your team and industry.
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