What is lateral leadership?
Lateral leadership is the ability to lead and move people without formal authority — through influence, trust, and persuasion rather than hierarchy.
DEFINITION
Lateral leadership is everywhere in modern organisations. It shows up when coordinating project teams without a disciplinary line role, winning colleagues from other departments for an idea, or delivering results in a matrix organisation without direct authority. The key lies in three dimensions: understanding — creating a shared picture of goals and roles; trust — showing reliability and building relationships; and influence — persuading, not ordering. Lateral leadership requires more communication effort than hierarchical leadership, but leads to higher acceptance and ownership in the team. Anyone who leads laterally needs a clear grasp of the interests, motives, and dependencies of the people involved.
CONNECTIONS
Artificial Intelligence
Lateral leadership becomes more important in the AI era: AI projects often span team boundaries. Anyone driving AI initiatives frequently does so without formal authority and needs lateral leadership skills.
Agility
Agile roles such as Scrum Master or Product Owner lead laterally. They carry responsibility but have no authority to give instructions. Lateral leadership is the competence-based counterpart to hierarchical steering.
Project Management
Project managers almost always lead laterally: they are accountable for results without line authority over project members. Stakeholder management is therefore a core competence of lateral leadership.
KEY POINTS
- Lateral leadership works without formal authority to give instructions.
- Influence, trust, and clear communication replace hierarchy.
- It is typical for projects, networks, and matrix organisations.
- Lateral leadership requires understanding the interests of everyone involved.
- The concept was shaped by Stefan Kühl and Thomas Schnelle.
EXAMPLE
A product manager coordinates the launch of a new feature. She has no authority over development, design, or marketing. She wins the development team through clear prioritisation and understanding of technical constraints. She involves the design team early in concept decisions. Marketing receives transparent timelines. Without giving a single instruction, she brings everyone on course.
MISCONCEPTIONS
Is lateral leadership the same as leading without authority?
Not quite. Lateral leadership means no formal hierarchy, but still influence. That arises through expertise, trust, and persuasive communication — a different form of authority.
Does lateral leadership only work in flat hierarchies?
No. It is especially relevant in strongly hierarchical organisations with project structures, because there command lines often do not match actual workflows.