“Titles are granted, but it’s your behavior that earns you respect and influence.” James Kouzes & Barry Posner (from The Leadership Challenge):
We often think of influence as something we either have or don’t. Some people seem to walk into a room and command attention. Others have to work for years before anyone listens to their ideas. But leadership — and life — rarely works in absolutes. Influence, as I understand it, is both borrowed and earned.
Borrowed Influence
Borrowed influence is the kind we inherit or leverage from the authority of others. Early in my career, I experienced this firsthand. I received a leadership role because someone believed in me, not because I had already proven myself. The title on my business card, the backing of a respected leader, and the reputation of the organization I represented gave me influence I hadn’t yet earned.
Borrowed influence can take many forms:
- Titles and positions. Managers are listened to because of the roles they occupy.
- Networks and endorsements. Being introduced by someone respected adds weight to your words.
- Credentials and affiliations. Degrees, certifications, or simply belonging to the right group can open doors.
Borrowed influence is not inherently bad. In fact, it’s often necessary. No one starts from zero influence and magically commands attention. We all need a starting place, a platform to stand on. The problem comes when we mistake borrowed influence for permanent authority. Titles change. Sponsors move on. Organizations restructure. If we only build our influence on what we’ve borrowed, others can take it away just as quickly as they granted it.
I walked into that first leadership role carrying borrowed influence. My boss believed in me, and his belief opened the door. But here’s the thing about borrowed influence: it has an expiration date. After the novelty of the new title wears off, people will want to know: Can they trust you? Can you deliver? Do you actually care?
Earned Influence
That’s where earned influence comes in. Earned influence is slower, more complex, and infinitely more durable. It comes not from what’s written on your business card, but from who you prove yourself to be.
I didn’t truly earn influence until months later. My title meant little in the trenches. What mattered was that I rolled up my sleeves with them. I listened when they vented. I admitted when I didn’t have the answer. And I fought for them when the board questioned our progress.
Slowly, the dynamic changed. They weren’t following the title anymore. They were following me.
Three pillars form the basis of earned influence:
- Trust – people believe your word because your actions match it.
- Competence – your ideas work, and your work delivers results.
- Care – people know you value them as humans, not just as means to an end.
The result is credibility. And credibility is the currency of authentic leadership.
Earned influence is what we build through trust, consistency, and character. This is the influence that stays even when people remove titles.
The beauty of earned influence is its durability. It’s harder to build, but also harder to lose. Even if you change jobs or roles, the reputation and relationships you’ve cultivated often follow you.
The Interplay of Borrowed and Earned Influence
Most of us need borrowed influence to get started. Someone opens a door and takes a chance on us. A title gives us the first opportunity to lead. That’s not a bad thing — it’s a gift. Borrowed influence provides only the entry point, the chance to speak or act. Earned influence sustains it. One without the other is incomplete.
Think about newly promoted managers. Their title grants them borrowed influence. But if they cannot build trust, their team will comply only out of obligation, not commitment. Someone without a title but with earned influence — like a respected team member — can often lead informally because others trust their judgment.
Leadership often requires both, and the wisest leaders recognize this balance. They don’t lean solely on borrowed authority, nor do they dismiss the value of formal roles and networks. Instead, they use borrowed influence responsibly while steadily investing in the kind that lasts long after the titles and positions change.
Extending Borrowed Influence
There’s one more side to this story: lending your borrowed influence to others. Looking back, I’m deeply grateful to the leader who gave me my first shot. He saw something in me I hadn’t yet proved. By sharing his credibility, he gave me the platform to build my own.
As leaders, we have the same opportunity and duty. Who can we sponsor, mentor, or invite into rooms they might not enter otherwise? Whose voices can we amplify? Borrowed influence, when shared intentionally, can become the seedbed for someone else’s earned influence.
For Leaders at Every Level
Whether you’re just starting your career or decades in, the question remains the same: How are you moving from borrowed to earned influence?
- If you’re new in a role, use the borrowed authority you were given, but do not depend on it. Begin building credibility immediately.
- If you’re established, look for ways to extend your borrowed influence to others — sponsoring, mentoring, and opening doors. In doing so, you help others begin their own journey from borrowed to earned.
- If you’ve stumbled, you can rebuild your influence. Trust may take time to restore, but consistency and humility go a long way toward restoring it.
In leadership, influence is never static. It shifts, grows, and sometimes diminishes. However, when we invest in what we have earned rather than rely on borrowed authority, we create a legacy that lasts far longer than mere authority.
Reflection Questions
- When have you benefited from borrowed influence — a title, endorsement, or introduction that opened doors for you?
- How did you convert that borrowed influence into something earned and sustainable?
- Think of a time when borrowed influence wasn’t enough. What lesson did you take from that moment?
- What specific actions have most helped you build earned influence in your current role?
📄 Download The Chairman’s Playbook Worksheet — Play 14: Borrowed and Earned Influence
📚 Further reading:
1. Jonah Berger — Invisible Influence: The Hidden Forces That Shape Behavior
Berger explains why we make the decisions we make and how influence operates beneath our awareness.
2. Daniel Kahneman — Thinking, Fast and Slow
Influence begins with how humans think. Kahneman’s work on biases and decision-making is indispensable.
3. Cass Sunstein & Richard Thaler — Nudge
A superb companion for understanding how subtle environmental cues influence choices.
4. Adam Grant — Give and Take
Shows why reciprocity, generosity, and networks are central to success—the ideas you discuss in your section on two-way influence.
5. Susan Cain — Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking
Perfect complement to your argument that even introverts influence thousands of people across their lifetime.
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