Leading Without Authority

rule one

Who s Your Team?

Position does not define power ­impact defines power. Impact can be made in every role at every level, and when we prioritize bringing out the best in those around us, business growth and success follow. We re at a critical time where deeply held notions about work are rapidly evolving. We must cultivate diverse workplaces where space is created for honest and constructive feedback and where associates further each other s success. In short, we need to build organizations that value and encourage co-­elevation. Mindy Grossman, CEO, WW International


Sandy was exhausted and angry. Taking this job was a huge mistake, she told me. The corporate politics here are ridiculous. It s like Game of Thrones, but without the chivalry.

The HR director for a national bank in Chicago, Sandy was dealing with problems dumped on her that were beyond her authority to fix. Her biggest challenge was a companywide project she was heading that would centralize HR s control of pay incentives throughout the organization. Not long after Sandy launched the initiative, she and her boss caught wind of a plan by the sales department to implement its own bonus incentive program.

Sandy s boss worried that HR would look bad if other departments followed the sales department s example and set up similar independent bonus programs. If that happened, HR s centralized program would almost certainly fail to meet its projected cost savings. But her boss didn t want to confront the head of sales on the issue, so he laid the problem at Sandy s feet. He asked her to persuade Jane, the head of sales operations and the department s second-­in-­command, to drop the sales bonus plan. Nip it in the bud, he told Sandy.

Sandy lacked the authority to tell Jane what to do, so she wasn t surprised when Jane responded flat out that the department needed its own targeted bonus system to remedy its soft fourth-­quarter sales results. Sandy was left in an impossible

Keith Ferrazzi is the founder and CEO of Ferrazzi Greenlight, a management consulting and team coaching company that works with many of the world’s biggest corporations. A graduate of Harvard Business School, Ferrazzi rose to become the youngest CMO of a Fortune 500 company during his career at Deloitte, and later became CMO of Starwood Hotels. He is a frequent contributor to Harvard Business Review, Forbes, and Fortune and the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Who’s Got Your Back and Never Eat Alone. His mission is to transform teams to help them transform the world.

Leading Without Authority is the must-read guidebook for radical transformation. Keith Ferrazzi s concept of co-elevation provides an actionable methodology for any team to thrive during the decade of exponential change ahead. Peter H. Diamandis, founder of XPRIZE and Singularity University, bestselling co-author of Abundance, Bold, and The Future Is Faster Than You Think

Ferrazzi is breaking new ground in defining what leadership can mean in the emerging world of work. He shows that humility, curiosity, and candor can serve as the connective tissue binding us to our mission, to one another, and to a sense of purpose larger than ourselves. Arianna Huffington, founder and CEO of Thrive Global

I m excited to bring co-elevation (as a new word, as a new book, and as a concept) to Zappos to help bring our culture and our business to the next level. Tony Hsieh, CEO of Zappos, New York Times bestselling author of Delivering Happiness

Ferrazzi brilliantly shows how building mutually beneficial partnerships marks the future of all work, and demonstrates how anyone can lead if they re willing to make themselves vulnerable and put the project mission and their partners first, turf and hierarchy last. Kristin Yetto, chief people officer at eBay

A brilliant, unique approach to building relationship capital by creating trusting and lasting human connection, not merely digital contact inside and outside your company. Peter Guber, co-owner of the Golden State Warriors, Los Angeles Dodgers, and Los Angeles FC

A masterful guide to thriving in today s very weird workplace . . . Get this right, and it doesn t matter that the business world is roiled by change and disruption. Dave Asprey, founder of Bulletproof, New York Times bestselling author of The Bulletproof Diet

Ferrazzi has gone into the trenches to figure out what it really takes to empower people and make teams more than the sum of