From the course: Leading without Formal Authority

Develop a leadership mindset

From the course: Leading without Formal Authority

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Develop a leadership mindset

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- Why should you develop a leadership mindset if you're not in charge of a formal team? Well, first, your ability to set direction, adapt to change, and win the hearts and minds of the people around you has a huge impact on your performance. You're more likely to get engagement on your projects and support from your peers. It also sets the stage for more formal leadership. When you successfully lead without formal authority, you're more likely to be given formal authority, and you're more likely to handle that authority well, because you spent time investing in your communication skills and your leadership abilities upfront. And if that's not incentive enough, leading without formal authority can lead to some major breakthroughs, and leave a lasting impact on the world. For example, Ken Kutaragi was a relatively junior Sony employee, who spent hours tinkering with his daughter's Nintendo, trying to make it more powerful and user-friendly. He collaborated with colleagues, he got buy-in from management, and eventually, he invented the Sony PlayStation. And Katie Bouman, a 29-year-old computer scientist, who led a project that resulted in the first-ever image of a black hole. Katie was a postdoc researcher with no formal direct reports. And the guy who ended up inventing Hot Cheetos, Richard Montanez, when he came up with the idea, he was working in maintenance at a Frito-Lay production facility as an individual contributor. He took the initiative in identifying a new market and bringing his idea right to the top of the organization. You've probably seen this play out in your own career. Every organization has those ambitious, helpful, need-to-know people. And a lot of the time, those people are not in the C-suite, yet. Even if you don't have a formal team reporting to you, viewing yourself as a leader in your organization, a driver of change, and a supporter of your colleagues helps you rise to the occasion and do your best work.

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