One of the hardest things to do is to influence without formal authority.
This is true of just about every relationship we come across personally and professionally. Recently I have been coaching an executive who had the daunting task of influencing lateral relationships for the good of the entire organization.
Many times in challenging circumstances, lateral relationships can become internal competitors. It reminds me of guys from a frat house ordering a pizza. It is like rebounding, ie who could put what body on the other to move them out of the way before all the slices were gone.
I am sharing some key concepts that should assist in maintaining sound leadership principles while attempting to influence without formal authority. They may take some time to germinate but once sprouted, will usually bear fruit.
Relationships:
It’s all about trusting relationships. Relationships are the conduit through which future deliverables flow. The catalyst or driver is trust. Trust is the currency by which relationships transact business. It is the market maker.
My coaching subject had the necessity to establish and maintain trusting relationships among lateral colleagues who were all competing for internal resources. It can’t be overstated, regardless of personal opinions, relationship conduits must be maintained. Without the connection to others there is no relationship. And functioning in isolation does not lead to organizational success. So don’t think you can be The Lone Ranger.
One of the keys in forming new free-flowing relationships or re-invigorating previous relationships is to foster trust. So together we explored the pathway to building trust.
In some ways, trust is built by creating positive shared experiences and building rapport. In other words, who are the major influencers around you that need connection to and what is the current state of trust in the pipeline? If the flow
is non-existent or has slowed to just a trickle, it is time to reevaluate the pipeline.
One of the quickest ways to eradicate trust is to make everything about ourselves versus others. For example, one lateral maybe full of conviction and desire and belief that their position is best. However the communication that is flowing through their conduit to others may come across as self-centered and self-serving arrogance. Regardless of its level of enthusiasm or energy, it will fail to engender trust.
A better approach is to understand how to get the other person’s attention and genuinely gauge their level of interest in your position. By making the effort to get their attention and gauge their interest level you can mitigate the potential negative perception that you were just peddling your own agenda.
This can help create positive shared experiences that build trust. Why? It is because you’ve taken the focus off yourself and asked for their sincere input and point of view. If the other lateral relationship is completely unaware or uninterested in your position, don’t waste your time beating on a door that is already closed.
This seems to be obvious, but in many organizations influencing without authority translates into who can yell the loudest or who has known someone the longest. This is a sure path to frustration and conflict.
As the saying goes, “you can lead the horse to water, but you can’t make him drink.”
This may also apply to managing up where formal influence is defined on an organization chart. But not having formal authority does not mean you don’t have influence. You most certainly do. Influence like belief does not exist in a vacuum. It is a verb and action word. It must be exercised to be acknowledged.
Get to know people and start forming deeper relationships. People who trust you will be much more willing to follow you. Deep, long-standing relationships allow you to ask for occasional favors. And a sense of camaraderie goes a long way towards encouraging people to solve problems together.
ACE the factors for influencing without formal authority – Attitude, Collaboration & Expertise
Attitude:
Your attitude, or how you treat other people, is one of the most important factors of influence. Be honest and straightforward – a slip in your integrity will cost you trust for a long time. Don’t waste people’s time – be prepared and organized. Communicate information and urgency but not stress. Your tone of voice, your choice of words, and acknowledgment of difficult situations can be your most powerful influence.
Collaboration:
Be willing to go first and offer something of value such as your time or constructive ideas. Many organizations and
in particular academia seem to be hunkered down in their bunkers and silos. It is difficult if not impossible to be a bunker buster unless you are willing to go first. Meaningful collaboration goes beyond lip service. This often means a time commitment for something external to the immediate discipline. However this time qualifies as strategic time versus tactical time because it is building influence over the longer term. When was the last time you reached out to a colleague to sincerely offer your time or expertise?
Expertise:
Speaking of expertise, understand that you may have talents and abilities beyond technical expertise that other colleagues do not possess. For example, a lot of analytical minds benefit from the shared expertise of creative minds. Neither one is right or wrong but just different. Diversity of technical expertise and non-technical expertise often leads to great outcomes. It also builds esprit d’ corp and trust. Expertise can be a powerful influencing factor. You just might be able to provide what a colleague needs with far less effort than they might have done on their own. Make it a win – win. Use your expertise to buttress recommendations and requests of others.
Successful lateral influence grows out of positive chemistry between colleagues and makes relationships of mutual influence possible. So a good practice to influence without formal authority is to slow down, get curious and apply the ACE factors. This means share your positive attitude, collaboration, and expertise. You and those around you will be glad you did.
