You Don’t Need a Crown to Change the Kingdom
Let me tell you about a guy named Martin.
It was a Wednesday. That kind of Wednesday where everyone create urgency out of nothing and nobody knows why they’re in the meeting. Managers were zooming in on dashboards like they were CSI detectives. Juniors were Googling “how to fake your own offboarding.”
Then Martin, a senior IC, leaned forward and said, “Here’s what I’d do…” Five minute later, the noise stopped. The room adjusted itself like gravity just shifted, Some questions were asked and we had a plan.
Nobody gave Martin a title. He had no team to “own.” He wasn’t even on the project. But he led anyway.
Why? Because leadership has nothing to do with job titles and everything to do with credibility and timing.
Let’s Kill the Myth:
You Need Authority to Lead
We’ve been spoon-fed this nonsense for years. That power comes from job levels and LinkedIn headers. That to lead, you need someone’s permission. Spoiler: that’s how you get managers who micromanage and engineers who mentally check out.
“Leadership is not about titles, positions or flowcharts. It is about one life influencing another.”- John Maxwell
Authority is something you’re given.
False. Authority is something you earn when people know they can count on you.
Influence requires approval.
Also false. Influence often starts exactly where formal leadership stops caring.
Counterpoint from skeptics:
“Yeah, but if we let ICs lead too much, it turns into chaos.”
Yes, if you’re managing like a paranoid robot. But when you build strong culture, senior ICs don’t go rogue. They go first.
My 3 Rules of Leading Without a Title
1. Clarity Beats Charisma
Senior ICs who lead well don’t inspire with rants. They lead with clarity. Their words land because they’re thoughtful, not flashy.
Instead of fake leadership talk like:
“Let’s synergize cross-functional outcomes.” or “We need to realign on our alignment.”
Try:
“This service is the bottleneck. We need to fix that first.”
“I’ve seen this fail before. Want to know why?”
“We’re treating symptoms. Let’s isolate the root cause.”
Andy Grove once said, “How well we communicate is determined not by how well we say things but how well we are understood.”
2. Act Before You Ask
Want to lead? Start doing the thing no one asked you to do, but everyone needs done, and you know how to do it good.
You don’t need permission to fix a broken script. You don’t need a Jira ticket to explain a system. You just need initiative and nerve.
“Don’t move information to authority, move authority to the information.”- David Marquet
Senior ICs don’t wait to be asked. They act, because they’re already standing where the decision needs to happen.
3. Don’t Be Additive. Be a Multiplier.
You can write perfect code and still be useless to the team. If you’re not mentoring, you’re just hoarding insight like it’s gold.
Why? Because output isn’t the same as impact.
If you’re not mentoring, you’re not leading, you’re hoarding. You’re sitting on a mountain of experience like it’s Bitcoin circa 2011, hoping someone decodes your cryptic commit messages.
Senior ICs multiply value.
They review code like they give a damn.
They pair program to teach, not to show off.
They answer questions by building frameworks, not just offering fixes.
Leadership is communicating other’s worth and potential so clearly that they are inspired to see it in themselves. – Stephen R. Covey
Leadership isn’t about being the smartest person in the room. It’s about making sure you’re not the only one who knows what’s going on.
Mentorship is leadership without ego.
It’s not a favor. It’s the actual job.
So if your impact ends with your editor window, you’re not a multiplier. You’re just noise with syntax highlighting.
Managers, look:
If you’re not giving space for ICs to lead, you’re the bottleneck. Congratulations. You’ve officially become the process people complain about behind your back.
The real job is not to tell. It’s to observe who already leads and give them room to grow.
Want better team dynamics? Stop waiting for potential and start noticing action. Leadership isn’t unlocked at level six. It’s happening now.
TL;DR: No Title Needed
Senior ICs lead without authority all the time. They see problems and solve them. They guide others without a schedule. They build trust in the gaps.
If you’re a senior IC, act like a leader today.
If you’re a manager, stop holding the reins so tight. Someone already stepped up. All you have to do is get out of the way.
- If you’re a Senior IC: Take up space.
- If you’re a manager: Make room.
- If you’re a company: Stop confusing title with talent.
Leadership isn’t earned by climbing. It’s proven by showing up when it matters.