Influence Without Authority: Leadership as an Individual Contributor

Presenter: Catherine Burns

Session Description: Author and CEO coach Kim Scott says that there are two types of star employees: "superstars" and "rockstars." While superstars are gunning for promotions, rockstars are grounding themselves as experts in their roles. According to recent research, most individual contributors (62%) plan to stay in IC roles over becoming a manager.

How can ICs take ownership of their career growth, leverage their knowledge and skills, and make an impact without climbing the ladder? In this workshop we'll dive into the leadership skills all "rockstars" need to become influential contributors: building trusting workplace relationships, managing up, carving out a niche area of expertise, and connecting the dots from your role to the organizational mission.

Attendees will:

  • Gain insight into their unique position of influence within the organization. 
  • Explore the influential skills of relationship building, managing up, honing expertise, and aligning work to the organizational mission. 
  • Understand how to leverage leadership skills to influence others regardless of title, tenure, or role. 
  • Identify one skill they want to strategically focus on for the next month.