Simo Schiassi

How to Influence Outcomes Without Authority

Google

Oracle

Microsoft

Emburse

Amazon Web Services

ex-Google Global Director and Executive Influence Coach

Pinpoint where your influence eroded as scope grew, so you stop fixing symptoms and address the real break.

Diagnose where influence broke

Recalibrate your presence so your voice lands with authority without pushing, performing, or overexplaining.

Rewire how you show up in rooms

Shift from personal output to outcome ownership, creating momentum through others and real leverage.

Shift from output to outcomes

You'll learn the skills that helped 400+ students improve their influence, have more impact, get hired/promoted and lead happier lives.

Ex-Product Leader at Meta, Yelp, & Yahoo

Yelp

Yahoo

Satish Mummareddy

Ex - Meta Yelp Yahoo. Led consumer, biz, ads & integrity products. Coached x00s.

Cohort 14

Cohort 15

Influence Without Authority is the ability to earn leadership trust, align peers &amp; partners, and lead through adversity to drive business impact.Influence is the skill that differentiates people who thrive in new companies &amp; roles, get high-profile projects and are promoted from those who struggle with change &amp; stagnate. That gap compounds into millions of dollars in career earnings.Rapid changes driven by AI will only make influence more critical. Teams are getting smaller. Roles are overlapping. Expectations are rising. People are on edge. Influence lets you navigate that &amp; drive impact.Most people assume influence is something you're either born with or not. In reality, influence is a skill you can significantly improve with the right principles &amp; deliberate practice.400+ product builders from 50+ top companies have taken this course and leveled up their influence skills.<ul><li>Alumni got promoted, influenced executives, and strengthened relationships</li><li>Students joining new companies &amp; teams wish this were part of onboarding at tech companies</li><li>Most students wish they had taken it much earlier in their careers and saved themselves years</li></ul>Master this skill. Change the trajectory of your career.

Influence turns product builders into trusted leaders & ideas into impact.

Embody a high integrity influence style -> Be the leader others trust

Understand people's incentives & powers -> Craft a plan decision makers champion

Build relationships & reputation early -> Turn skeptics into allies and sponsors

Leverage decision psychology & influence toolkit -> Change minds & align groups

Master peer & exec communication -> Resolve conflicts and win leadership support

Develop high agency & emotional intelligence -> Thrive in any team and situation

Start Strong: Just changed companies, or roles and are eager to earn trust, build a strong reputation and drive product &amp; business impact

Grow Faster: Doing strong product work but want to develop skills to take on more scope, lead high-visibility initiatives &amp; earn sponsorship

Regain Momentum: Facing organizational challenges or had a career setback and looking for the missing pieces to regain confidence &amp; momentum

Build Executive Visibility with self-advocacy, assertiveness, influence, conflict, being strategic & navigating organizational dynamics 

 Global VP(ex-IBM); $2B P&L; 2000+ team

Palantir

Amazon

Monica Aggarwal

Executive Leadership I Global VP (ex-IBM) I Engineering, Product & Partnerships

Cohort 12

Cohort 13

You’re already good at your job. That’s not the problem. The problem is this. AI is reshaping how teams work. Roles are shrinking. Layers are flattening. The bar for leadership is rising. The people who advance aren't just the most competent. They're the ones who act like leaders before they get the title. In high-stakes meetings, under pressure, in front of senior leaders, someone is getting that opportunity — because they know how to frame, influence, and command trust in 30 seconds flat. Those skills aren’t taught anywhere. This cohort changes that.Zero passive videos Zero generic advice 9+ hours of Live Practice Lab Every Session includes:• Live role-play using real scenarios • Direct coaching and reframing on the spot • Immediate feedback on language, structure, and delivery • Bite-sized frameworks you can use rightaway • Peer observation (learn 5x faster watching others get coached) What you’ll walk away able to do✔ Frame updates so execs get your impact in 30 seconds ✔ Answer tough questions without rambling ✔ Influence decisions in cross-functional teams ✔ Handle conflict without losing composure ✔ Navigate org dynamics without playing dirty ✔ Make your work impossible to ignore

Own the room. Move the C-suite. Shape the outcome.

How to Advocate for Yourself - Own your story

How to Be Assertive - Lead with conviction, not compliance

How to Influence Without Authority - Get things done when power is distributed

How to Manage Conflict: Handle heat w/o losing your cool

How to Be a Strategic Leader: For clarity & foresight

Navigate Organizational Dynamics - Understand the game & elevate your impact 

You are a Leader of People - Founder, Entrepreneur, CXO, VP, Senior Director, Director, Senior Manager, etc.

Senior Individual Contributors (ICs) - Product Manager, Engineer, Marketing/ Finance/Technical lead, Program/ Project Manager &amp; UX/CX Lead

New In Your Role and looking to develop Executive Visibility right at the outset (Congrats!)

Your continued career growth depends on changing how you work from what brought you success early in your career. 

Executive Coach, former Google leader

Bain & Company

Instacart

Rubrik

Snowflake

Eric Nehrlich 

ex-Google Chief of Staff, Executive Coach, Author of You Have A Choice

January 2026 Cohort

September 2026 Cohort

Early in your career:-- You are rewarded for working harder and independently solving problems.-- You earn more credibility by knowing more and demonstrating domain expertise.-- You get more scope (and promoted!) by taking on more with a “can-do” attitude. But your career will plateau unless you learn to:-- Build and lead teams and systems to solve problems rather than do the work yourself.-- Collaborate with other leaders to manage trade-offs across different domains.-- Deliver results through others by mobilizing and coordinating people across different functions and perspectives.This course is for you if you feel stuck in your job or career. Perhaps you are a senior individual contributor or a front-line manager who keeps getting passed over for the next promotion with feedback about being more strategic, or having more presence or influence. Or perhaps you have earned more scope but are drowning under the work, seeing no way to get it all done.

The next level of your career requires embracing new mindsets and skills.

Scale your leadership to create greater team and company impact

Increase your confidence and executive presence.

Greater influence across the leadership team. 

How to deliver on complex projects without control

Handle difficult conversations and political situations

A path for continued career growth without working unsustainable hours.

This course is for those who have grown through their early career, and want to grow their impact beyond what they can do as an individual.

10+ years of career experience

You're a senior IC or front-line manager wondering what you have to do differently to get to the executive level.

Your performance feedback no longer celebrates your expertise and effort, and instead focuses more on strategy, influence, and presence.

You are working harder and longer but falling further behind. Doing more isn't sustainable so you need to find a new way to get things done.

Strengthen inner confidence, inspire others, and sharpen leadership skills through hands-on exercises and real-world tools

Leadership Coach 

Ha Tran

Founder, Ex-Google, Chief of Staff, U.S Department of State Professional fellow

Cohort 1

Cohort 3

In high-stakes moments, three things show up at once: 1. what you know is true2. what it might cost3. what you think you should do Most people try to resolve this by thinking harder or speaking better.It does not work. Because the problem is not clarity. The problem is authority. When no one is clearly leading, you: - hesitate even when you know the answer- over-explain to justify your position- say something, then walk it back- leave conversations feeling misaligned This is not a confidence issue. It is a governance issue. What changes after this workshop- You speak without over-explaining or softening your position- You make decisions faster without needing full certainty- You stop negotiating against yourself in real time- You handle pushback without collapsing or escalating- You stay aligned with your decision after the conversation ends This workshop is for you if: - You know what you want to say, but change it in the moment- You make decisions, then second-guess them after- You feel tension between what is true and what is acceptable- You are seen as capable, but do not feel fully in control under pressureMaximum 20 people/workshop to keep it intimate and practical.

You are not confused. You are running multiple leaders.

Make decisions under pressure without internal conflict

Senior leaders and managers looking to lead with conviction and assurance.

High-performing professionals who want to build stronger, more confident leadership skills.

Emerging leaders who seek to develop self-assurance, overcome self-doubt, and project confidence in high-stakes situations.

Agentic AI

Coding with AI

AI Workflows

Claude Code

OpenClaw

Vibe Coding

AI Evals

AI Transformation

RAG & Search

AI for PMs

AI for Engineers

AI for Designers

AI for Marketers

AI for Founders

Product Sense

Product Discovery

User Research

Prototyping

Growth

Analytics

Tech Foundations

Strategy

Influence

Leadership

Career Growth

Machine Learning

LLM Ops

Context Eng

Security

System Design

Figma

Design Systems

Visual Design

Design Strategy

Automation

Content Marketing

Demand Gen

Go-to-Market

Product Marketing

Positioning

Social Media

Brand

B2B Marketing

SEO & AEO

AI for Leaders

AI Governance

Communication

Management

People Operations

Exec Presence

Storytelling

Goal-setting

Personal Brand

Fundraising

Everyone

Operators

Data Scientists

Business Analysts

User Researchers

Customer Success

Project Managers

HR Professionals

Sales People

Lawyers

Finance

Investors

Real Estate

Educators

Creators

Introduction: Influencing Without Authority

Why the Old Leadership Playbook is Failing

The Excellence Trap: Why Working Harder Isn't Enough

Defining Executive Influence

The 6 Pillars of Executive Influence

6 Practical Actions to Improve Your Influence

The Mindset Shift: From Excellence to Influence

Q&A and Conclusion

Executives and senior leaders who set strategy, lead teams, and drive organizational outcomes.

Developing leadership skills — inspiring teams, building culture, navigating organizational complexity, and driving results through others.

Persuading stakeholders, presenting ideas, and getting buy-in across an organization without formal authority.

How to Influence Outcomes Without Authority

What you'll learn

Why this topic matters

You'll learn from

Simo Schiassi