How to Lead When You're Not in Charge: Leveraging Influence When You Lack Authority

by Clay Scroggins

Autonomy is a myth.

Eventually, every leader is forced to come to terms with the reality that everybody is accountable to somebody.

Leaders who wrap themselves in the security blanket of “If I were in charge” or “When I’m in charge” as an excuse for poor performance and lack of initiative will most likely never be in charge.

On the other hand, the real leaders in an organization will find a way to lead the charge...

Great leaders leverage influence and relationships over title and position.

Ben Ortlip: You told me the key to writing was to begin the day by putting my face on the ground and begging God to inspire me.

I regret the times I didn’t speak up. I regret the times I twiddled my thumbs, waiting for someone to tell me what to do. I regret feeling like a victim to the structure or hierarchy of the organization.

We come to see positional authority as a prerequisite for effective leadership.

Leaders don’t sit back and point fingers. Leaders lead with the authority of leadership . . . or without it. The authority is largely irrelevant—if you are a leader, you will lead when you are needed.

It wasn’t more authority I needed. Instead, I needed to accept the authority I had and then use it wisely to cultivate influence and make things better. I

Influence has always been, and will always be, the currency of leadership.

I started seeing the truth of this principle everywhere. People lead all the time with little to no authority.

King led because that’s what leaders do. They cultivate influence with a title or without a

Our focus doesn’t have to be simply on persuading those in charge to effect change. You may be able to do that, and you may not. But what you can do is focus on your own area of responsibility and make it great. We need to avoid the trap of thinking we are passive victims with nothing we can do. Each of us can begin to lead right where we are today. Collins continues, “Take responsibility to make great what you can make great. And let others do it in the areas that they can make great. And if the whole company doesn’t do it, you can’t change that. But you can take responsibility for your area.”

Jesus argues that the best leaders, the ones who align with his vision for leadership, will lead as servants who are aware of their responsibility and who answer to a higher calling.

Do you want to be a “not so with you” kind of leader? I hope so. I know what it looks and feels like to use the gun of authority to get people moving, but Jesus tells us there is another way—a better way. Even if you have authority and a position of leadership, an inspiring leader does not need to leverage that authority. “Not so with you” kind of leaders learn that there are more effective ways to cultivate influence and build trust.

In a Harvard Business Review article titled “The Key to Change is Middle Management,” Behnam Tabrizi writes that mid-level managers are the lynchpin of change within an organization. He finds that these managers do not necessarily have the authority to effect change, but they can still make change happen. “A hallmark of the successful 32% was the involvement of mid-level managers two or more levels below the CEO. In those cases, mid-level managers weren’t merely managing incremental change; they were leading it by working levers of power up, across, and down in their organizations.”3

The lie we believe is that we must wait until we’re in the leader’s seat before we can have this kind of influence. But the good news is that influence can (and should) be cultivated wherever you are. If you’re able to grasp this truth as a leader today, it can prepare you for the future. But if you fail to cultivate influence when you’re not in charge, you will have no influence to leverage when you are.

Influence always outpaces authority. And leaders who consistently leverage their authority to lead are far less effective in the long term than leaders who leverage their influence. Practice leading through influence when you’re not in charge. It’s the key to leading well when you are.

We may not immediately recognize it for what it is, but we each have the ability, as well as the opportunities, to influence others and effect change in this world. And the earlier we begin to fan the flame of the gift of influence, the more it will grow. Conversely, the longer we wait, mired in passivity and the sense that we are victims of circumstances and the decisions of others, the more likely we are to diminish and mute the leadership gifts within us.

So don’t shrink back until someone calls your number. But know that leading without authority is more difficult than leading with authority.