Why interviewers ask this question

This question is especially common for roles that require cross-team collaboration or early leadership potential, since so much real workplace influence happens without any formal authority over the people involved. Interviewers want to see that you can build credibility, use reasoning and relationship rather than position, and get genuine buy-in from people who have no obligation to listen to you.

How to structure your answer using STAR

Choose a real example involving a peer, a different team, or someone senior to you, where you had no formal authority to direct their actions. Briefly explain the situation and what you needed from them, then focus on the action: how you built credibility (through expertise, data, or relationship), framed the ask in terms of their interests as well as yours, and followed up appropriately. Close with a clear result showing the other person or team genuinely changed their approach or decision.

A strong example answer

"I noticed our product and support teams were using inconsistent language when describing a feature to customers, causing confusion, but I had no authority over the support team's process. I put together a short, data-backed summary showing the specific support tickets this confusion had caused, and framed my proposal for shared terminology around reducing their ticket volume, not just making things easier for my own team. The support lead adopted the shared glossary within their next team meeting, and related tickets dropped noticeably over the following month."

Mistakes to avoid

Avoid a story where you actually did have some formal authority over the person, since this weakens the specific skill being tested. Avoid framing the story purely around your own team's interests; the strongest answers show you understood and addressed what mattered to the other person or team, not just what you wanted from them.

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Frequently asked questions

How is this different from the general "persuaded someone" question?
This question specifically probes influence in the absence of any formal authority or reporting relationship, often across teams or up the hierarchy, whereas a general persuasion example could still involve someone you have some authority over. If asked both in the same interview, use genuinely different examples for each.
Is this question mainly relevant for management-track roles?
It comes up most often for roles with cross-functional responsibility or a leadership growth path, but it is genuinely relevant for almost any collaborative role, since most people need to influence colleagues outside their direct reporting line at some point.