Most people view leadership as a position of authority and not an activity. I choose to view leadership as an activity, where anyone can take on the responsibility of leading regardless of their position of authority. If we accept the definition that leadership is about mobilizing others to make progress on complex and entrenched challenges, then it makes perfect sense for anyone to take on the action of leadership.
What does leading without authority look like?
Great examples of leadership without authority are on the civic level. A concerned citizen raises awareness around an issue to their town or city council and mobilizes change by influencing and inspiring others to take action. A small group of nonprofit members join together to fundraise for a new community project. A church reaches out to other churches, mosques, temples, and synagogues to join in a community prayer.
All of the examples above involve little to no authority over others who are seeking to influence others. What they do have is the ability to influence others through the action of leadership to make progress on the challenges that concern them the most. People without authority must rely on true leadership to make progress on tough challenges, utilizing skills like communication, persuasion, and even empathy.
The concerned citizen has no direct power to make changes to their community, and have but one vote for their representative; however, they can mobilize others to make progress on the issues that they share a concern for, leading to multiple voters influencing their respective representatives. The group of non-profit members does not have the authority to call for their organization to spend money on the community project; however, they can organize together to fundraise for the project inside and outside their organization. The church looking to form a community prayer with other institutions of faith cannot mandate other institutions to do so; however, they can empathize with other churches and different faith organizations to find a shared sense of purpose that may lead to the interfaith community prayer session.
The key to all of these examples is the understanding that true leadership is not authority. Authority may be involved in actions of leadership (in many cases, it does); but the true action of leadership is about influencing others without the fear of authority or power to make them act. Rather, leadership is about influencing others to want to act. If we accept that true leadership is about getting people to want to act versus having to act, then the answer to leading without authority is about connecting with the hearts and minds of others.
Leading without authority is not exclusive to civic life.
You can still be a leader without the title or power within your organization. An employee who organizes others to form an employee resource group is demonstrating an act of leadership. A supervisor who wishes to make progress on the rift between the department they work in and another department is acting as a leader when they talk to upper-level management about organizing a sit-down between both departments to start healing that divide. A company secretary who wishes to create more efficient logistics within the office is acting as a leader by planning a lunch & learn with the leadership of the organization to help the staff learn this new efficient method.
How do you lead without authority?
Demonstrating leadership without authority requires the soft skills of listening, empathy, and persuasion to truly get others to want to act. Listening skills provide you with the ability to truly hear the concerns others have with the challenge you wish to make progress on. Empathy allows you to connect with others beyond the surface level of the challenge you are presenting, so you can build rapport with them. Finally, persuasion skills give you the ability to "sell" the change you are passionate about making progress on. This does not necessarily mean you are persuading others on how to make changes; rather, it is about finding common ground on the desire to make the change.
Leading without authority also requires a great deal of courage as well. It takes a great deal of courage to approach others on want to make a change within your organization, especially those with authority. But that courage goes a long way in making progress on the challenges that concern you the most within your organization. Think of it this way; if you believe there is a challenge that needs addressing, odds are there are others who also believe the same thing. It may take the courage to stand up and address it, but you will hardly ever have to be the only one who wants the change to occur. Leadership is about mobilizing others to act alongside you, so the fear of sticking your neck out for something you believe in is usually not a solo endeavor.
Finally, leading without authority requires you to identify who needs to do the work in making progress on the challenge you have identified. Like civics and politics, you will need to identify the key stakeholders in your organization to begin to take action. That may look like organizing the most vocal employees in the organization to come together and address management on the issue of working conditions within your office/job site. It may also look like identifying which managers/executives in the organization hold the most influence on different sides of the issue of remote work. Perhaps it looks like talking one-on one your lateral peer manager of a department that has been difficult to work with for years before addressing the issue between both departments
All of the above examples take foresight to plan ahead before taking the action. Talking to the most vocal employees about what the common concerns are about the working conditions before speaking to leadership provides a perception of a unified voice for concern that may lead to an increased likelihood of progress from management. Identifying where certain managers/executives are on the issue of remote work gives you the ability to address the most influential parties that agree with your position, as well as both not agreeing and are on the fence about the issue (addressing as many sides of the issue as possible increases the likelihood of making progress). Finally, speaking to your lateral peer manager one-on-one may give you the ability to find common ground on the issues between your respective departments. This may lead to progress in healing the divide between both departments when you both address the departments together on the discovered common ground.
Going Forward:
Knowing you can lead without authority within your organization is an empowering feeling. But don't just keep this feeling to yourself! Share this sentiment with your team and peers, as they also are inspired to act as leaders when the moment calls upon them to do so.
The old adage that "many hands make light work" rings true in the world of leadership, as the responsibility to act on every challenge does not fall solely within your hands. Empowering your organization to act implies shared responsibility to identify challenges and mobilize others to take action as well!
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