Lab managers are often accountable for outcomes they cannot accomplish alone. They may be responsible for standardizing workflows, supporting a merger, or changing staff behavior, but the people who need to participate may not always directly report to them. They may be physicians, faculty members, peers in another department, senior leaders, or long-tenured employees with strong informal influence.
That was the central challenge explored during the “Influence Is a Leadership Tool: Driving Alignment Up, Down, and Across the Lab” panel at the 2026 Lab Manager Leadership Summit, moderated by Scott Hanton. Panelists April Day, Melissa Duong, and Dwayne Henry discussed how lab leaders can build alignment even when they do not have direct authority over everyone involved. Their advice centered on a practical idea: influence starts before the ask. It depends on trust, consistency, credibility, and a clear understanding of what matters to the other person.
Start by building trust
When teams do not trust each other—or do not trust leadership—resistance can surface through silence, skepticism, or conflict. That is especially true during major changes such as mergers, acquisitions, or departmental restructuring.
Day, senior director for clinical pathology at Geisinger Health System, emphasized that uncertainty is expected during a merger. Staff may worry about job security, changing processes, or whether their concerns will be heard. In those situations, she said, leaders need to be consistent in their communication, feedback, and follow-up. Staff must see that leaders will answer questions, address concerns, and close the loop.
One tool Day described is a “stoplight report,” which tracks staff questions and requests. Items in progress, completed items, and requests that cannot move forward are all documented and visible to the team. The goal is not to promise that every concern will be resolved in the way staff prefer. It is to show that concerns are being captured, evaluated, and communicated back. That transparency, Day explained, helps staff see that leadership is listening and following through.
Duong, who was transitioning from associate director of anatomic pathology at Penn Medicine to AVP of pathology services at Adventist HealthCare, added that leaders should “err on the safe side of oversharing” during times of uncertainty. When leaders undershare, staff may fill the gaps with their own assumptions. Regular updates, even on smaller changes, can help reduce suspicion and reinforce that larger issues will not be hidden from the team.
Understand the other person’s priorities
Influencing up requires a different approach than directing a team member. Day advised lab leaders not to make the conversation about what they need. Instead, leaders should understand the other person’s goals, pressures, metrics, and strategic priorities. Then they can frame the request around a shared outcome.
For example, a lab leader asking for more staff may not get far by focusing only on workload. But if the request connects staffing to emergency department throughput, patient access, turnaround time, or another organizational priority, the conversation changes. Day explained that when influencing senior leaders, lab managers need to “speak in their language” and show how the lab’s needs support broader goals.
Duong built on that point by noting that alignment often requires the lab leader to adapt. Leaders cannot control how others communicate or make decisions, but they can learn what those stakeholders value and meet them there. That may mean preparing data in advance, shifting your communication style, or setting up a regular cadence that works for the other person.
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Turn informal leaders into partners
Not all influential people move the culture in the direction leaders want. Some long-tenured employees may resist new expectations or shape the opinions of newer staff. But Day cautioned against ignoring these individuals. People with negative influence are still leaders because others follow them.
Her advice: engage them early. Ask for their input. Invite them into the process. Show that their experience has value. By doing so, lab leaders can often change the person’s role from critic to contributor. Even when leaders cannot address every concern, giving informal leaders a meaningful opportunity to be heard can change how they talk about the initiative afterward.
Duong suggested a similar approach: reframe the person’s resistance as insight. An opinionated employee may have useful context about why previous efforts failed or why staff are skeptical. Inviting that perspective can help leaders uncover barriers and build a more realistic implementation plan.
Model the behavior first
Henry, instructional lab manager for chemical and biological sciences at Montgomery College, discussed influence in the context of safety and compliance. In academia, he said, he often needs faculty members to model the same safety behaviors expected of students, even though those faculty members do not report to him. His first step is to model the behavior himself. If he expects others to follow safety protocols, he must be seen doing the same.
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He also described using small, consistent touchpoints, such as brief “Monday morning safety tip” emails, to build awareness over time rather than overwhelming people with too much information at once. Over several semesters, those reminders became part of the culture, and the faculty began thanking him for them.
Influence rarely comes from one conversation. It comes from a pattern of credibility. For lab managers, that means following through, understanding others’ priorities, using the right messenger, and engaging the people who shape culture every day. Authority may make compliance easier to demand, but influence is what helps alignment last.
This article was created with the assistance of Generative AI and has undergone editorial review before publishing.
