Authority vs. Influence

𝗟𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗲𝗿 𝗣𝗲𝗼𝗽𝗹𝗲 𝗙𝗼𝗹𝗹𝗼𝘄

There are two moments in a career when the difference between authority and influence becomes impossible to ignore.

The first is when you get your manager title.

Most people wait for it, believing it will solve everything: the friction, the resistance, the exhausting negotiations of being a peer. Now people will have to listen. Execution will finally be painless. But authority gets you compliance. It rarely gets you commitment.

The second moment is the move to the executive team.

By the time you reach VP, managing down is table stakes. What changes at the executive level is the nature of the relationships that determine your success. Your peers owe you nothing. Your cross-functional partners have their own priorities. Your boss has ten people asking for their attention.
None of these relationships responds to authority. All of them run on influence. The most important work rarely sits within your job description. Influence is what gets you invited into the room anyway.

This does not mean abandoning authority. When speed matters and stakes are high, a commanding style is not a failure of leadership; it is leadership. The boat is sinking. You do not call an assembly. You take the lead, unapologetically.

But the boat is not sinking every day.

The executive-level leaders I work with are technically skilled. What unlocks their next level is no longer competence; it is the ability to move people they do not control in rooms where their title carries no weight.

The best time to address this gap is now. If you are navigating this transition, I’m happy to talk.