Influence, from the other side of the table

I spent 17 years learning how to influence engineering and product teams without having any authority over them. 

I wrote a framework about it for the Software Quality Engineering Certificate earlier this year, then I became a department head and discovered that the skill I'd been practising my entire career was now being practised *on* me.

This talk is an honest take from the other side of the table. I'll tell you what I've learned and what I'm still figuring out (because let’s be real, it hasn’t even been a year yet).