How to Become Great Leaders Without Authority

The ability to lead comes from influence rather than authority. PMs should connect with two types of people: the connectors and the mavens, as Malcolm Gladwell calls them. The connectors are social hubs; they've been there for a while,. They can introduce you to people that you didn't know existed or were relevant to what you're trying to accomplish. These are the connectors. The other type you want to know on a personal basis and on a closed basis are the experts. This is something that we should be rather strong at as PMs because we should already be doing this with our users and customers. And if they're on your side, you'll have a much stronger hand