Influence isn't about the org chart

Your seat at the table doesn't always come with a title. Sometimes that's exactly where the real leadership work begins.

That was one of the threads running through a workshop I led on Saturday alongside my colleague and friend Scott Markowitz. We brought this idea to a group of leaders in pediatric anesthesiology — a field where the stakes don't leave much room to figure out teamwork as you go.

Leadership lies in the ability to exert influence, connection and action from whatever position you hold.

Not from authority. Not from the title. From the ability to calibrate — to read the situation, the expectations of a diverse array of teammates, and the timing of your own intervention, and adjust accordingly.

In pediatric anesthesiology, that calibration is constant. Coordinating in the operating room across disciplines in real time to protect patient safety, elevate teaching standards, and shape a culture that actually keeps people, it takes more than expertise. It takes teaming.

This kind of influence happens while teaming.

And this was the focus of the From Expert to Expert Team session Scott and I led this weekend, where we differentiated teamwork and teaming.

Teams are stable, bounded entities that work together over some period of time to achieve a goal.

Teams know each other’s strengths, styles and challenges
Teams have a long-term opportunity for impact

Teaming is what’s required when work needs to get done, together, on the fly.

Teaming assumes less fixed roles and is supported by adaptability
Teaming happens in the present moment

Teaming requires a different kind of development.

Together, we dove into an evidence-based playbook of exercises that our group could take back to their own institutions to enhance teaming. We focused on tools for building psychological safety and performance, not just ideas about it.

Spending that time with a room full of experts who took the question seriously — how do we actually become a team, not just a group of skilled individuals? — was a genuine privilege.

Think about your work with others, which do you engage in more often: teamwork or teaming?

And, does your team have the right knowledge and skills to make the most of teamwork, teaming or both? If you’d like to discuss how to elevate your team, hit reply so we can set up time.

Let's find time to connect.