How to Lead Without Authority

Have you ever had to lead a team without having any authority? If so, you know it makes achieving business outcomes that much more difficult.

In my mid-20s, just after earning my MBA, I was a bid/proposal manager for MCI (the telecommunications giant) leading multi-million-dollar global network managed services proposal efforts. Leading cross-functional teams, of anywhere from 15-25+ subject matter experts (SMEs), who were often male and 10+ years my senior—from legal/contracts, to finance, to engineers, to strategic partners; in a large matrix organization, was no easy feat.

None of the SMEs reported to me directly. As a result, I did not have any authority over the people that I depended on to produce an end-to-end technical solution, pricing, and a complex proposal deliverable. Meanwhile, company leadership deemed just about every sales proposal opportunity a, “must win.”

As someone who had limited to no “managerial” authority early on and throughout her career, but was expected to help drive revenue, I quickly learned how to lead successfully without authority.

I Used This In Lieu of Authority

Rather than rely on authority, instead I cultivated influence to achieve desired outcomes. As I reflect back on my career, it is clear that there were three categories of attributes that enabled me to increase my influence to lead effectively without authority:

Being Strategic—when you are perceived as strategic, people believe that you are credible and are thereby more amenable to your guidance and direction even if you don’t have authority.

Here is what being strategic looked like for me:

Creating a shared vision: At the start of every proposal effort, during a series of initial kick-off and strategy meetings, I led a discussion with the team about what a winning proposal would look like. This became our shared vision. When people help create the vision, they have “skin in the game” and are more prone to support execution.
Having a plan: It is not enough to simply have a vision. Teams need a clear roadmap on how to realize the vision. I always documented a plan, which included key tasks/milestones, task owners, deadlines, scheduled status meetings, etc., for every proposal effort. I then clearly communicated the plan to the entire team verbally and in writing. The plan brought the vision to life, created momentum, and helped build my credibility with the people I led.
Gaining buy-in: I always solicited and integrated input and suggestions from the team throughout the process, which created even more buy-in (e.g. skin in the game) to the vision and plan. Buy-in yields loyalty, and thus a willingness to follow your lead; regardless of whether you possess authority or not.

Building Trust—The more that people trust you; the less significant authority becomes to leading effectively. Think of trust as the glue that keeps everything together for you as a leader.

Here is what building trust looked like for me:

Making people feel valued: I did my best to make every person on the team feel valued as an individual by soliciting their input (as mentioned above), involving them in decisions, and listening actively. Whenever appropriate, I also made it a point to give people praise during one-on-one conversations and more importantly in team settings. People will trust you and go the extra mile when they know that you value their strengths, knowledge, ideas, contribution, etc.
Showing commitment: I found that when people consistently saw my high degree of commitment to the vision, the plan, and the team; in addition to building trust, they felt compelled to follow my lead.
Fostering relationships: Getting to know each team member, occasionally engaging with them on a personal level, and having humor and a little fun went a long way in building rapport and fostering relationships. Relationship building is the foundation for establishing trust.

Exuding Professional Presence—people are likely to see you as an authority, whether you are or aren’t, when you exude professional presence (aka executive presence).

Here is what exuding professional presence looked like for me:

Communicating effectively: My ability to communicate effectively was key to having teams hold me in high regard, and therefore willing to follow my lead without being their manager.
Persuasion/negotiation: Not possessing authority resulted in me unknowingly developing my persuasion and negotiation skills early on in my career. These two skills were an imperative if I wanted teams to actively participate in the proposal process, adhere to my requests, give their best effort, and meet deadlines I established. Although I was a bit of a natural at negotiating, because I saw its importance, at one point I took a formal class to help sharpen this skill.
Displaying confidence: People can smell a lack of confidence from a mile away. When you lack confidence, you risk people questioning your knowledge, ability, and leadership capacity. I found that because I exhibited confidence and was assertive, teams viewed me as an authority; even though I didn’t have it.
Demonstrating calm under pressure: The fact that I was able to “keep my cool” when dealing with difficult people and situations—which was par for the course in the role, added to people’s perception of me as an authority.

Influence or Authority?

If I had to choose one, leadership influence or authority, I’d pick influence every time—and so should you. Ironically, there are leaders who possess authority but who aren’t successful. The reason is because influence is what really drives outcomes, not authority.

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