Our MBA students learn that informal leadership can be just as effective as formal leadership. Informal leaders are often characterised by their ability to influence, whereas formal leadership is strongly linked with having authority.
A recent article in Momentum, the University of Queensland business school online magazine (read it here), reinforces this by exploring the art of influencing without authority. As the article notes, “leadership is not the same as authority”, and with the changes initiated to adjust to working through COVID, leaders have had to revisit how they influence workers who are not necessarily physically present. In the Momentum article they provide some excellent tips for people who don’t necessarily have authority to effectively exercise leadership in two ways – influencing upwards and influencing across. The full article expands on these points, but a quick summary for you follows:
Influencing up (those more senior than you):
- Consult and build coalitions
- Identify the key influencers in your organisation and how they make things happen
- Leverage the power base you already have
- Adapt to the working and leadership styles of those in authority
- No surprises
Influencing peers:
- Create a focus on shared leadership
- Define shared goals that are inspirational and even motivational
- Set clear and agreed norms or guidelines about team behaviour.
The article also has a final bit of advice regardless of who you are tyring to influence, “Authentically treating people with respect and taking accountability for yourself will go a long way to enhancing your ability to lead and influence others.” Great advice.