Developing Your Influence.
The secret to better results at work? Influence.
Influence is your reputation at work.
When you have high amounts of influence, you have positive relationships with colleagues.
It’s clear to them how working with you benefits their career.
When you have low influence, it’s not clear how working with you benefits your colleagues.
‘How do I grow my influence?’
If you want to grow your influence with others, it needs to be clear to them: what’s in it for me, working with you?
To identify the answer to that, consider:
What is in it for the other person working with me? Do they get to learn about a different industry, expertise, or grow their network?
How does working with me help them achieve their goals?
If I’m not sure about their goals, could I learn what they are looking for?
What’s your level of influence?
When you work with colleagues …
How many resist your requests, or simply don’t answer your emails or calls?
How many comply with your requests?
How many go above and beyond?
The percentage of people who fall into each category tell you what level of influence you have with them.
For example, if your colleagues don’t answer your calls or return your emails, you have a low level of influence.
If your colleagues comply with your requests and do the minimum, you have a medium amount of influence.
If your colleagues deliver incredible work, above and beyond your expectations, you have a high level of influence.
Which seems most like your work experience?
To build your influence, start here.
To build your influence, you need a foundation of trust with your colleagues.
In a study of 87,000 leaders, three factors influenced whether people saw leaders as trustworthy. These were, in this order:
A foundation of positive relationships.
Evidence of sound judgement / expertise.
Consistency.
To grow your influence with others, you need to demonstrate all three.
Reflecting on the most important stakeholders in your work … how could you show your positive intent, sound judgement/expertise, or consistency?
3 practical strategies to build your influence.
In a study of 500+ influencing attempts, three strategies were most impactful.
These were:
Big picture: tapping into someone's inspiration, or bigger picture.
Consultation: leaning on them as the expert.
Relationship: leveraging an existing, respected relationship.
What is the ‘big picture’ strategy?
When you contextualise your request into the bigger picture someone else has for their career, it gives your ‘ask’ more meaning.
By outlining how your inquiry or ‘ask’ helps them achieve a goal that is meaningful to them, they are more likely to consider your request.
The next time you need something from a high value stakeholder take a moment to contextualise your request: how could this fit into their bigger picture? How could this help them achieve their goals?
Pro tip: if you’re not sure of their goals, this could be an opportunity to learn more about them before you make your ‘ask’.
What is a ‘consultation’ strategy?
When someone feels you acknowledge what they have to offer, they are more likely to pay attention, right?
When you consult with someone as an expert, you are showing humility, and respect that they have expertise and insights to share.
By putting your ego to the side, you can honour someone's expertise and lived experience.
The next time you go to ask someone for something … are there ways to make sure it’s explicit you value and acknowledge their lived or professional experience?
Are there ways you can make that clear when you share your ‘ask’ with them? What would honouring the expertise they bring to the table look or sound like from your perspective?
What’s leveraging a positive foundation look like?
This works when you have the foundation of trust, consistency, and you follow your word. (As in, if you only ask a favour and are unreliable yourself, you’ll lose trust very quickly).
When you have the foundation of a positive relationship, and ask a favour, people are willing to go the extra mile.
Why?
When you have a relationship, helping a friend out seems like something you are not only willing to do, but inspired to do.
Please note: do this sparingly as there is a limit to other people's generosity! If people feel you use your relationship all the time, they might be less likely to want to help you out in future.
Which of the three strategies seem most useful to your circumstance?
Did you know we run this workshop at workplaces?
Having influence helps you achieve great results at work.
In our Building Your Influence workshop, create a map of your important stakeholders to grow your personal influence.
Leave with a game plan to increase trust and collaboration with high value stakeholders.