“Never was so much owed by so many to so few.” Winston Churchill 1940

You are one of the few.

If you lead in technology, you cross into departments, decisions and divisions. From the minimum wage hostess to the CFO, you make their life and business easier. You know me - I believe you are a hero.

You are also, perhaps, uninformed and inexperienced in a critical area of leadership. This area was made clear to me in a group setting in which we were trying to help a peer, and then again in a coaching session with a CFO about assertiveness, and a third time within the same week when I was talking with a CEO about his C-Suite.

How do you exert influence when you don’t have authority? How do you keep from taking on accountability where you only have responsibility?

How do you lead where you are not the leader but you are a leader?

You have options. You can be the bully. You can be the critic. You can be the person who goes behind people’s backs to get your way. We have met that “leader.”

Or. 

You can understand what is important to your CEO about leadership. You may be a CIO or other C-Suite technologist. But you are not only a leader of technology. The CEO has you on board so that you can lead leaders - in technology, certainly, and in business, essentially. 

And that leadership is not a position, it’s a presence. It’s not a place of proclamations, but a permeation of persuasion (that’s a good phrase. Kick that around).. It’s influence beyond authority.

I wrote earlier this week, “To lead is to bleed. But I’m not speaking of the loss of blood. I’m referring to seeping into other areas, as colors bleed into each other. As a leader you have authority in situations, but not all. And that’s where the bleeding of leading becomes an art.”

I then named three areas in which you exercise influence beyond authority. These three apply to your life, whether in business or in relationships. 

Knowledge - You know what others need to know

Let me add a kicker - You have knowledge, and the ability to communicate it so another understands it. 

The unique trait of technology is that people use it every day, and because they use it, they think they comprehend it, which at first glance invalidates your own knowledge. 

But we know something they don’t know - It’s only a matter of time before they are swimming in deep waters with raging currents. And unless they know what you know, they will never be able to navigate themselves to safe shores.

Goodness, I don’t even need to begin to spell out what you know that they don’t. Just focus on the wisdom - If you want to influence, invest your knowledge. Make the pool shallow and the waters calm. 

Your CEO knows this. So many people think they would be greater at the top never realizing how much information is required to be held in the mind at the top. Ignorance is rarely promoted.

Context - You see what others need to see

Most disagreements come down to a difference in knowledge or a difference in context. Context is about knowing more than meets the eye - it can be about motivations, external conditions, broader views or limited thinking, threats and opportunities, insecurities, habits, resolutions and vows.

The factors are many; the context is concrete. Sometimes a difference in context is knowledge-based; “If I had known that…”

More often, it is perception, the ability to see situations and understand their effect on current considerations. 

Your CEO likely excels at this. They see market conditions, competitor growth, talent capacity, financial trends, etc. and take them all into account when making decisions. They need you to do the same, and to help other leaders see what you see. 

Last year about this time, with the onslaught of ChatGPT, CEOs were coming to you and asking what the implications of AI were. CEOs are quick to want to see what they can’t. They crane their neck.

Your peers do not see. They see IT expenses. They see IT delays. They see shadow alternatives. 

If you want influence, they need to see what you see and understand the implications of it.

Relationship - You build what others cross.

The closer the relationship, the less strenuous the influence exerted.. 

You work hard to lead change; you work harder with those with whom you have less connection.

Connection results from meeting a need, confronting a common enemy, and sharing in a benefit.

Consider those as currencies for deposit. You want to build your deposits. In doing so, you become a trusted relationship. Relationship follows reliability; reliability is expanded in relationship.

Resistance is natural. Overcoming resistance is relational.

When is the last time you fulfilled another leader’s need, helped them overcome an obstacle, or shared in a benefit?

Do more of that.

People may yield to authority; it’s their choice. They will crave your knowledge, understanding of context and servant relationship. They will believe you are owed that.

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