Engineers who become managers quickly find that the authority that comes with the manager title isn’t as helpful as they thought it would be.
First, even when you have the role power as the boss to tell your team what to do, the effectiveness of that power diminishes the more often you have to use it.
Second, you’re now interacting with a new set of peers, and you don’t have any authority over them. And yet your success often hinges on what they do.
There are four different areas you can focus on to help you influence without authority.
1️⃣ Clarity. Give enough specifics that people can understand exactly what your request or proposal requires of them. But don’t give so many irrelevant details that you obscure the point. What details are relevant? The next two points should help.
2️⃣ Context. The value of you request may depend on details that are visible to you but not to others, such as risks, dependencies, and deadlines. Share the context details that will help them understand the reason for your request.
3️⃣ Consequence. People often won’t care about something just because you do. Be explicit in helping them see how your request or proposal is tied to something they value.
4️⃣ Connection. Don’t underestimate the value of a friendly personal relationship. with the people you want to convince. Not only do people tend to be agreeable to people they like, it is also through this kind of connection that you’ll learn what they care about and what details are helpful to share.
So to improve your ability to influence without authority, focus on clarity, context, consequence, and connection. And if you’d like to explore a specific challenge around influencing others, let’s talk. Visit stevedwire.com/talk to start the conversation.
Leave a Reply