Season 13: Career Leverage
How to Influence Decisions at Work Without Authority
Podcast Audio Only:
At some point, you start to notice that decisions are happening and you’re not part of them, even though you have the context, the experience, and a clear point of view. You’re in the meeting, you’re doing the work, and then you realize the decision has already been made somewhere else.
The shift just shows up in how things unfold, and after a while, you start trying to figure out what you’re missing.
Most people respond by doing more, like taking on extra work, trying to be more visible, and making a point to speak up more often. It feels like the right move, especially if you’ve been rewarded for that behavior before, but it usually doesn’t change anything.
Authority vs Influence at Work: What’s the Difference?
Authority is clear. You can see it in titles, reporting lines, and who is responsible for what. If someone has the role, they have the authority, even if they are still figuring out how to use it.
Influence is less obvious, but it shows up in consistent patterns. You can see it in who gets asked for input before something moves forward, who someone pulls aside after a meeting to get their take, and who people look at when something is unclear.
None of that is written down, but it’s not random.
You can have authority and still struggle to get people to listen, and you can have no formal authority and still shape what happens next. The difference comes down to how your judgment is experienced over time.
How to Tell If You Have Influence at Work
If you want to understand where you stand, look at when you’re being communicated to about projects and initiatives.
Are people asking for your input before a decision is made, or are you hearing about it once it’s already set? That pattern tells you more than most feedback will, because it reflects how people are actually using you in the moment.
When you’re brought in early, people are relying on how you think. When you’re brought in late, they’re relying on you to execute.
Why Working Harder Doesn’t Increase Your Influence
When people realize they’re not being included, their instinct is to push harder. You’ll volunteer for more projects, make sure their work is visible, and try to show you can handle more responsibility.
That can help you stay in your role and meet expectations, but it doesn’t automatically change how people involve you.
If someone already sees you as the person who gets things done, they are more likely to give you more work, not pull you into earlier conversations.
How to Build Influence at Work Over Time
Influence builds through repetition, but not the kind most people focus on. It’s not repetition of output, but repetition of judgment.
People start to trust what you see when they’ve seen it play out more than once. That might look like calling out a risk before it becomes a problem, explaining why you made a decision instead of just sharing the result, or connecting your work to something happening in another part of the organization.
How to Show Your Thinking at Work (So People Trust Your Judgment)
A lot of professionals assume people can see how they think because they can see their work, but that's usually not the case.
If all someone sees are outcomes, they evaluate you based on execution. If they can follow your reasoning, they start to evaluate your judgment.
This doesn’t mean talking more, but you need to be clear about why you’re doing something, what you’re noticing, and where you think something is going.
How Workplace Culture and Bias Affect Influence
There’s another layer here that people don’t always want to deal with., which is that the same behavior isn’t interpreted the same way for everyone, and that affects how influence builds.
You can raise a concern in a meeting and get ignored, and then hear someone else say something similar ten minutes later and get traction. You can be direct and be labeled one way, while someone else is seen differently for doing the same thing.
Influence is shaped by culture, leadership, and who holds power in the room, so part of understanding your situation is being honest about the environment you’re in.
How to Evaluate Your Influence at Work
Instead of asking whether you’re doing enough, look at what happens when you speak.
Do people follow up with you after? Do they ask for your input on related issues? Do they reference something you said later, or does the conversation move on without it changing anything?
What to Do If You’re Not Being Included in Decisions
Start with what you can observe. Look at when you’re being brought in, what you’re being asked, and how people respond when you share your perspective.
From there, you can decide what needs to change. Sometimes that’s how you’re showing up, but sometimes it’s the environment. Those are different problems, and they lead to different decisions.
Related Resources
If this episode brought up more questions than answers, these will help you keep pulling on the thread:
The Truth About Workplace Reputation and Career Advancement: https://ridethetidecollective.com/2026/04/28/workplace-reputation-career-advancement/
The 5 Skills Leaders Are Actually Paying Attention To: https://ridethetidecollective.com/2026/04/14/career-skills-that-increase-trust-and-influence/
The 5 Career Leverage Buckets That Give You Real Choice: https://ridethetidecollective.com/2026/03/17/season13episode2/
If you’re trying to figure out how this applies to your specific situation, this is the kind of work I do with clients in the Career Advancement Intensive: https://ridethetidecollective.com/coaching/intensive/
Start with free career resources:
Not sure where to begin?
Start here: https://www.ridethetidecollective.com/strategies
Career Advancement Intensive
A Transformative VIP Experience to
Propel Your Career Forward
