“I’m just an individual contributor.”

Oh, how many times have I heard that, only to dig deeper to find that these unassuming clients were actually movers and shakers.

A sampling:

• The senior tech manager who convinced C-suite leaders to invest in new software—and helped propel the company toward its goals.

• The account manager who unified teams across marketing, operations, and finance to support a key sales initiative that sparked 10X millions of dollars in revenue—and established trust for future high-ROI projects.

• The volunteer fundraiser who built and nurtured hundreds of donor relationships—while creating innovative revenue-generating community events—to guarantee a long-term competitive high school music program.

• The engineering/client liaison who skillfully uncovered the true needs of the customer, articulated those needs to the engineering team, and then distilled the technical requirements back to the client.

These employees sound like leaders to me.

Even if you’ve never formally led a team, you may have more to say about your ability to lead than you realize.

I recently had a client who epitomized what it meant to lead from behind. 

She was hoping to get a promotion, but felt she didn’t have the experience required—because she’d never had an official title that shouted “team leader!” 

So I asked her: 

How many people have you pulled together to get behind an initiative and help you build it? 

What departments do you serve as a liaison? 

When have you influenced change at a higher level within the organization?

🌊 And with that…the floodgates opened…

🏆 She told me about how she convinced her boss to adjust the strategy for a new launch—and helped capture a new market. 

🏆 How she won the support of other teams to identify a new system that ultimately cut man hours. 

🏆 How she won trust across the organization because she had a knack for distilling and communicating complex information to non-tech audiences.

Wow! All great info for her resume, LinkedIn profile, cover letter, and interviews.

Remember—even without the formal title, you’re a leader if:

✅ You get cross-functional peers to support your strategy.

If you came up with an idea to build revenue and you galvanized support for this idea from other teams, you’re a leader.

✅ You influence decisions at the top of the organization.

If you’ve convinced senior management to invest in a new system, technology, or change, you’re a leader.

✅ Your strategy demonstrates you understand the needs of your cross-functional peers.

If you go deep to understand the needs of others who’ll be impacted, and win them over by demonstrating that their interests will be served, you’re a leader.

This last skill—or lack thereof—is what sometimes trips us up. Being strategic in the interest of our own silo won’t cut it. 

Early in my career, I had a colleague who rose quickly within our company—faster than the rest of us. At the time, I thought it was because she was simply super smart.

When I look back now, though, I believe her rapid rise was due to her effort to understand the pressures other teams were facing, so that she could address those concerns when she rallied them to support a pet initiative.

These employees make great leaders because they’re actually going beyond their own departments to understand the needs of others; they see the impact of change or a new program through a broader lens. 

Put yourself to the test…

Say you’re in sales, and you have an ambitious quota to meet. Do you just focus on your own revenue goal? Or do you recognize the needs and challenges of those who are in finance, supply chain, marketing, and others—on whom you rely for support?

Do you acknowledge them after they’ve assisted you, so they’ll be inclined to help you in the future?

If you can’t rally those folks through trusted relationships, it’s hard to get promoted and recognized. 

If you’ve influenced, led, or persuaded your colleagues, your senior management, customers, and others in the organization who don’t report directly to you—regardless of your formal title—you’re a 🌟 leader.

Here’s an underlying reason recruiters will be impressed with you if you can pull together others beyond your direct reports:

The people you influence, convince, and rally aren’t relying on you to write a good performance review.

Now, that’s leadership.

…and you’re pretty darned amazing.

Now, go with confidence!

I’ll be cheering for you!

To hear more strategies for improving your odds for getting a promotion…take a listen to my podcast episode with Pooja Dang!

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