How to Lead Others When You Have No Positional Power

Welcome to Friday 411, issue #159. In 4 minutes, with 1 insight and 1 action, you'll lead leaders even when you don't have positional power.

1 Insight

If you don’t have power to force change, you can leverage the power of small commitments.

You can see the problem clearly.

But the person responsible doesn’t report to you.

So now what?

Every leader eventually has to lead someone they don't have power over.

It may be another manager, a peer in another department, or even a senior leader. You can see the problem clearly, but you can't force the person to fix it.

When you have positional power, you can fall back on authority. You can set expectations, create consequences, and make the call.

When you don't have positional power, all you have is influence. And influence works differently than authority.

The Challenge of Influence without Power

Recently, we asked our Unleashed Community about the challenges of leading others when you don’t have power. People responded:

They don’t have to listen to you. They can agree with you verbally but not do anything. There are no consequences if they don’t change.

That last one — the lack of consequences — is often the most challenging problem. Because you’re not their supervisor, what do you do if they don’t want to make the change that you need them to make?

That’s frustrating.

Since you can't enforce consequences, you have to create commitments.

Stop trying to force movement from the outside.

Start helping them own movement from the inside.

How?

By asking better questions.

Stop Trying to Convince Them

When we try to lead without power, most of us make the same mistake.

We talk too much.

We explain the problem. We tell them what we see. We give advice. We share what we would do. We try to make the case so clearly that the other person finally says, "You know what? You're right."

That rarely works.

The more you push your stance, the more they defend their position. Even if your answer is right, they still have to own it. And people rarely own what someone without power forces on them.

Stop trying to convince them to accept your answer. Instead, ask better questions.

Questions help people:

See the problem. Name the future. Build their own path forward.

That matters because people support what they help create.

The Four Commitments

Your questions will help drive them toward four commitments.

When you're leading someone outside of your positional power, you aren’t trying to win an argument. You’re trying to get them to make commitments to themselves. If they make four small commitments, you can influence them to change.

1. Commitment to the Preferred Future

First, help the person see the problem by naming what you see and asking open-ended questions:

• On a scale of 1-10, how big of a deal is this?
• What effects is this having on your success and happiness?
• How is this affecting your team right now?
• What do you think happens if this continues for another three months?

Once they see the problem, you want them to create a vision of a preferred future. One of my favorite questions to achieve this comes from Dan Sullivan of Strategic Coach:

"Imagine we're meeting six months from today. Looking back over those six months, what has to have happened in this situation for you to feel happy about your progress?" That question helps the person name the future in their own words.

Then ask for your first small commitment: "Do you commit to seeing that vision take place?"

If they say no, ask what's holding them back. If they say yes, you now have a small commitment to build on.

2. Commitment to Clear Actions

They’ve committed to a vision but, without actions, it’s just a wish.

Don’t make the mistake here of telling them what to do or handing them a plan. That causes you to lose influence. More importantly, you can’t tell them what to do because you don’t know the specific obstacles that they’re facing.

So ask three more questions:

1. What dangers, obstacles, fears, or challenges could get in the way?

2. What strategy could help you deal with each of those dangers, obstacles, fears, or challenges?

3. Looking back over all of those strategies, what three actions will you take next?

The obstacles matter because the obstacles shape the strategy.

It’s like a GPS. If a road is closed, the route changes. You don't keep driving into the barricade just because that was the original plan.

Leadership works the same way.

If you help people name the obstacles, they can build a better path around them.

By the time they answer these three questions, they are clear on what they need to do next.

Now you can ask for a second small commitment: "Do you commit to those three actions?"

3. Commitment to Accountability

Once that commitment is made, accountability is necessary but tricky when you don’t have power. You can’t demand to hold them accountable. They have to invite you to do that.

Again, the best way to get them to invite you to hold them accountable is through questions:

• How long do you think you need to complete these actions?
• What support do you need from me or others?
• What's at stake if you don't complete those actions?
• What do you think should happen if these actions don't take place?

These questions put ownership on the person, not on you.

Then ask for the third commitment: “Can I ask you about these actions when we follow up?”

If they answer “yes,” they’ve just invited you to hold them accountable.

4. Commitment to Ongoing Follow-Up

This is the commitment most leaders miss.

You have one good conversation, feel like progress was made, and then move on. But one conversation rarely changes a pattern.

Follow-up is not a separate conversation. It is the same conversation continued over time.

When you reconnect, use questions again:

• Catch me up on the actions you took and the results so far.

What worked? What didn’t work?

• Has the original problem changed at all?
• Has your preferred future changed at all?
• Have any obstacles changed?
• What are the next actions you’ll take?

These follow-ups don’t need to be long or formal. They can last a few minutes. But they help the person reinforce their commitments.

Then ask for another commitment: “Can we set the next follow-up now?”

Influence Moves at the Speed of Ownership

When you lead without positional power, you cannot rely on pressure.

You have to rely on ownership.

That means you slow down. You ask more questions. You help the person see the problem, name the future, choose the actions, invite accountability, and commit to follow up.

It may feel slower at first, but it will end up the faster path. The other person will be spurred on by the fuel of personal responsibility instead of compliance with your idea.

They are moving forward with their own commitments.

That's the heart of influence.

You still don’t have the title or control the consequences, but you can help someone take ownership.

1 Action

Think of one person you need to influence but don't have power over. Schedule a time to meet with them and use this process to influence them.