Lead With Influence, Not the Title
Why do people still ignore you even when your name is on the damn org chart?
The Invisible Title Problem
You finally clawed your way into the Director seat, the VP office, the Founder title. You expected respect to follow the promotion. Instead you walk into rooms and feel the same energy you had ten years ago when you were a nobody. The title changed. The perception didn’t. You’re still the guy they call when they need a deck fixed, not the guy they call when they need a decision made.
That burns because you earned the role with blood and weekends and gray hair. Yet the room still looks past you to the loudest voice or the person who “just gets it.” You’re not lazy. You’re not stupid. You’re just leading with a label nobody cares about anymore.
How You Spot the Influence Gap in Real Time
Watch what happens in the next meeting. Someone junior throws out an idea. Three people lean in. You throw out a better version two minutes later and the conversation keeps rolling like you never spoke. That silence is your data. Track it for one week and you’ll see the pattern: your title buys you a seat, not a voice. The people who actually move the room never mention their title. They lead with certainty and stories that land like punches.
How to Crush It Starting Today
Stop introducing yourself with your title. Ever. Lead every room with one sharp sentence that proves you see what everyone else misses. Then ask the question nobody else dares to ask. Do this three times and the energy shifts. Do it ten times and they start waiting for your take before they open their mouths.
Here’s the dead-simple playbook I give every client who’s sick of being invisible:
- Walk in and state the real problem in one line
- Back it with a single undeniable data point or story
- Ask the question that forces everyone to pick a side
- Shut up and let the silence do the rest
That’s it. Four moves. No title required.
Leaders who master this get promoted again without campaigning. Deals close faster. Teams fight to work for them. You want that reality or you want to keep polishing a title nobody respects?
Fix it now. Drop your name and email here and I’ll send you the exact scripts my private clients use to own every room they enter: https://andywergedal.kit.com/
