Spurring Action Without Authority: Let the "Why" Drive the "What"

About 2 months ago, I got a promotion. I’m now Manager of Project Management, or in industry vernacular, the full-fledged leader of my company’s PMO (project management office).

I am very grateful for this opportunity, and I’m looking forward to having a larger impact on my company’s projects and ROI with this new level of authority and responsibility.

But I’ve been a project manager for 8 years, and for most of that time, I’ve had very little authority. My department has grown its body of standard practices and processes, but for the most part, they haven’t been required. Working with project managers on projects has been mostly optional.

And even though I now have authority over the project management function, I still don’t have much actual authority on my projects. Somebody else is always the decision-maker with regard to what the project will produce; I am just their partner in making it happen.

There are many ways a project manager’s role can be structured: in some structures you will have more authority; in others you will have less. But most of us face regular scenarios where we need to make something happen, and authority—being able to just tell someone to do it—isn’t a tool available to us. So what tools are?

Managing projects with little authority for many years has taught me a way of speaking and writing that serves as one possible answer to this problem.

If I’m not able to tell people to do things, then I must persuade them. And I’ve found one of the most authentic, team-building, trust-building ways to persuade people is to start by communicating why something needs to happen, or the value behind the course of action you’re recommending, even before you say what it is you want them to do.

When I started realizing the need to communicate reasons to help persuade people to action, my more natural way of speaking was to put my recommendation or request first, followed by supporting reasons. But as I realized how powerful the reasons were, my way of speaking has shifted to put the reasons first, as though they moved into the driver’s seat of my messages.

Because at the end of the day, as a project manager, it IS really all about what we’re trying to achieve, not about what we do to get there. I don’t need an ego boost from getting people to do what I want. I need to see our collective goals reached. So my recommendations or requests SHOULD rise or fall based on whether they’re the best path to those goals. When communicating the goal or the need first, I implicitly invite others to speak up if they see a way to meet that goal/need that’s better than mine. They are invited in. They are trusted. And if my recommendation is followed, it’s because people agree the goal matters and they agree my proposed path to the goal is valid, not just because I told them to do something.

You may recognize this basic idea from Simon Sinek’s book Start with Why or his Ted Talk “How Great Leaders Inspire Action.” I’d bumped into these materials in college, but I re-discovered the idea organically in my own professional context as the idea of being transparent about goals and reasons made itself apparent as a powerful, meaningful motivator when I didn’t have authority to make things happen.

Here's the difference between doing and not doing what I’m talking about.

No “Why”:

Hi Chelsea,

Would you please finish reviewing the Schmidbauer contract and send me edits by Thursday?

Thanks!

“What,” then “Why”:

Hi Chelsea,

Would you please finish reviewing the Schmidbauer contract and send me edits by Thursday? Kira just called me and let me know that if she has the final version in-hand by Friday when she meets with this client, they’ll be much more likely to sign on with us.

Thanks!

Letting the “Why” Drive the “What”:

Hi Chelsea,

I just heard from Kira that she’s close to getting the Schmidbauers to sign on with us! But based on her experience with this client, having several things in hand when she meets with them on Friday will dramatically increase our chances of being their chosen vendor.

I’m working on the schedule now. Could you finish reviewing the contract by Thursday, so that I can compile all the documents together and get them to her in time for her meeting?

Thanks!

Without a reason at all for my request, Chelsea won’t understand the priority level to give it, or if she should do it at all (because I don’t have authority over her). If she’s busy, it’s very likely to get buried under her other work.

Including a “why,” regardless of the order, helps a lot—either order can create the motivation you need. But making your message about the reason by starting with it can help Chelsea feel like she’s on a mission with you to help Kira. And if she can think of a better way to help Kira, she now has the information she needs to speak up. Maybe she has spare time and will offer to finish the schedule for you too!

Plus, in a situation like this, if I’m the project manager, Chelsea may not be responsible to edit contracts for me, but she may be responsible to support Kira or to help make sure we close deals with clients.

Now that I have more authority in my new role, I don’t intend to stop communicating this way. Authority is a good backup way to drive action for people who are particularly stubborn, and I’m glad this tool is now an option I have some of the time. But the more people you can motivate to action with a focus on goals and transparency about reasons, the more you’ll build true buy-in and willingness to do what you ask, and the stronger and more trusting your teams will be.

Especially as a new project manager, when it may be difficult to get people to follow your lead, take the focus off yourself. Instead, shine the spotlight on where the team needs to go and what your reasons are for the way you think they should get there. Then the team can react to the goals and the reasons on their own merit.

Why do we need to take action, and why does your approach make sense? Let the “why” drive the “what” of your requests, and your lack of authority will be less of a barrier than you think.