Latest / New Manager Conversations with Fexingo: First 90 Days, Managing Former Peers, and Leadership Basics / How New Managers Can Influence Without Authority
Transcript
- Lucas: So you're a new manager. And your team is awesome. But the thing you actually need to get done this quarter depends on a designer in another department, a data engineer who reports to someone else, and a legal review that's currently sitting in a queue. You have zero authority over any of them. What do you do? Luna: That's the classic 'influence without authority' moment. And it's honestly where most new managers hit the wall first. Lucas: Exactly. Because up until now, you got things done by doing them yourself or by asking your direct teammates. Now you need buy-in from people who don't care about your title. So today I want to walk through a real case. A friend of mine, let's call her Priya, she became a product manager at a mid-sized SaaS company about eighteen months ago. Luna: And she had no direct reports, right? That's common in product management. Lucas: Right. She owned the roadmap but not the people. She needed engineering to build features, marketing to launch them, and sales to actually sell them. And none of those teams reported to her. So her first big launch was a total mess — deadlines slipped, the marketing copy didn't match the product, and sales had no idea what was coming. She told me she felt like she was herding cats. Luna: I've been there. It's exhausting. So what changed? Lucas: She started doing three things deliberately. First, she built an informal network before she needed it. She started scheduling fifteen-minute coffee chats with people she'd eventually need favors from — not asking for anything, just learning what they cared about. What metrics they were measured on. What frustrated them. Luna: That's smart. Because when you eventually ask, you can frame it in terms of what's already important to them. Lucas: Exactly. That's tactic two: use data to create pull. Instead of walking into a meeting and saying 'I need this feature by next sprint,' she started showing the other team's manager a quick analysis. 'Here's the expected revenue lift. Here's how many support tickets this would reduce. Here's the customer feedback we're getting.' She made them want to say yes. Luna: And the third tactic? Lucas: Intentional reciprocity. She kept a mental ledger. When the design team needed user testing participants, she volunteered her team. When legal needed a quick sit-down, she showed up with a clear agenda. She built a reputation as someone who made others' jobs easier. So when she needed a favor, people remembered. Luna: That's the kind of thing that sounds obvious in retrospect but is really hard to do when you're drowning in your own deadlines. Lucas: Totally. And that's actually the point — if today was useful to you, the way these stay ad-free is listener support. You can buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo. Just a way to keep the conversation going without any sponsors. Luna: Yeah, it really helps. And honestly, those small acts of reciprocity are exactly what build influence over time. Lucas: So let's talk about a specific situation. Say you need a data engineer to run a query for a presentation you have tomorrow. You don't know them. What's the first thing you do? Luna: I'd try to find a connection first. Maybe a mutual colleague or someone on my team who has worked with them. And I'd frame the request as a small ask, with a clear benefit to them. Lucas: Right. And you'd be specific. Not 'can you help me with some data?' but 'I need the monthly active users by cohort for Q2, and I can share the final dashboard with your team.' You're giving them something back. Luna: What about when you're managing former peers? That adds another layer. Lucas: It does. Because now you have history. They might feel like you've changed. Or they might test your authority. The influence approach works here too, but you have to be extra careful about not pulling rank. Luna: So instead of saying 'I need this done,' you'd say 'Here's why this matters to the team, and here's how I can support you.' Lucas: Exactly. One technique that works well is to ask for their input first. 'Hey, I'm thinking about how to approach this project. What do you think would work best?' That acknowledges their expertise and makes them a partner, not a subordinate. Luna: Let's talk about the meeting itself. When you walk into a cross-functional meeting with no authority, what's the one thing you should have prepared? Lucas: A one-page brief. Not a deck. A single page with the problem, the proposed solution, the data supporting it, and exactly what you need from each person. Keep it to one page. And send it in advance. Luna: And then in the meeting, you start with the shared goal, not your ask. Lucas: Right. 'We all want to reduce churn this quarter. Here's one thing we can do that would help. I need engineering to allocate two sprints, marketing to test the messaging, and sales to pilot the script. Can we get alignment on that?' You're framing it as a team win. Luna: And if someone says no? Lucas: Then you ask what would make it a yes. You dig into their constraint. Maybe their team is overloaded. Maybe they need more data. Maybe they have a competing priority. Your job is to understand their reality and find a path that works for both of you. Luna: That's the essence of influence without authority, right? You're not manipulating. You're building a case and a relationship. Lucas: Exactly. And over time, your reputation becomes your authority. People start coming to you with ideas because they know you'll make them look good. That's when you know it's working. Luna: So for any new manager listening who feels powerless because they can't command, what's the one action to take this week? Lucas: Pick one person you'll need something from in the next month. Schedule a fifteen-minute coffee with no agenda. Just get to know what they care about. That's the seed. Luna: I like that. Small, concrete, and it builds over time. Lucas: And if you try it, let us know how it goes. We'll be back next time with another conversation. Luna: See you then.