Leading With Influence or Authority – What’s Your Style?

A Part of the WIA Today Change Management Series*

By Jacqueline Langlois, Gen D Consulting, with Michelle Pelletier Marshall, Women in Agribusiness Media (March 31, 2026)

In this continuation of our change management series with consultant Jacqueline Langlois, founder and CEO of Gen D Consulting, we address influence vs. authority.

Change is often framed as a matter of leadership – but not all leadership looks the same. In organizations navigating transformation, two forces tend to shape outcomes more than any formal plan: influence and authority. While they’re frequently used interchangeably, they operate very differently. Authority is granted by title, role or hierarchy; it directs action through structure and mandate. Influence, on the other hand, is earned – built through trust, credibility and the ability to foster collaboration to ensure collective progress.

Understanding the distinction isn’t just semantic—it’s strategic. Change initiatives rarely succeed on authority alone. People may comply because they have to, but they commit because they want to. That shift – from compliance to commitment – is where influence becomes indispensable. In this article, we’ll explore how authority and influence each function in change management, where they complement each other, and why the most effective leaders know when to rely on one, the other, or both.

Here’s more from Jacki…

What leaders actually need in 2026 is influence over authority, and the best leaders spend less time managing and more time influencing outcomes by mobilizing people, not managing tasks.

I’ve seen the same patterns in my years in corporate ag and life sciences: organizations employ smarter systems and people still don’t move together. That’s because influence isn’t the same as management – it’s rational, deliberate and measurable.

Management organizes work. Influence gets buy-in. Management answers “how.” Influence answers “why.” When leaders lean too hard on process and not enough on influence, projects slow, morale dips, and the best people leave.

Here are three practical moves you can make to tip the balance from task-keeping to outcome-shaping:

1. Frame the change in one human sentence. Don’t lead with metrics, lead with meaning. (E.g., “This change will free up your crew for higher-value work so you can focus on scale.”)
   

2. Create a two-minute influence ritual. Quick conversations that land new behaviors: listen, reframe and link to individual value. Use it weekly.
   

3. Measure influence with leading indicators. Track micro-wins (adoption rate of new practice in week 1), not just completion.

Looking for more details? Reach out to Langlois via Linkedin for more info on The Influence Playbook, which provides a one-sentence frame, a two-minute ritual script, and three metrics to track in your next 30 days. See also these resources.

*See the first story in this series “From Chaos to Clarity” here, and the second post “Feedback Is a Gift… Or Is It?” here.

ABOUT JACQUELINE LANGLOIS

Jacki Langlois is the founder of Gen D Consulting, where she helps leaders in agriculture and life sciences break out of survival mode and lead with clarity, confidence, and communication — her 3C framework. With 15+ years across product, agronomy, marketing, sales, and sustainability, she knows what it takes to navigate complexity from the inside. Jacki believes human intelligence is what scales leadership — not another system, not another tool. She coaches the person, not the problem, blending strategic thinking with personal transformation to help clients own their voice and create lasting impact. Based in Europe with a global lens, her mission is simple: clear the noise, unlock potential, and build a future where people and ideas thrive.