When I say the word influence, what do you think about?
Consider this – what we commonly think of as influence is about a title or position on the organizational chart. While those are places that we do exhibit influence, increasingly, I have come to recognize that influence is more about what you do!
Influence is about behaviors that you exhibit rather than the title or role that you may find yourself in. Let me give you an example — when I worked in the manufacturing world, we had people at all levels of the organization that had significant power to influence. They might have been at corporate or in the front office – but often those that wielded the most influence were on the production line.
Influence is the currency of change. If we can look organization-wide and the ability to make change last, our effectiveness is directly related to skill sets around influence. When you are influencing around an important idea, using your personal influence is the difference between being accepted or rejected.
I recognize that this might sound manipulative. But its not about being disingenuous or being in someway deceitful. We all have strategies that we use for interacting with the world — why not be intentional with influence? Let’s get honest and open about how influence actually works.
Some of the most effective leaders that I have worked with have been the ones that are self-aware and know how to truly influenced others. They use that important currency and understand how they are being perceived by others. They are aware of how they come across while remaining authentic.
The most influential leaders are not afraid to share their perspective, and do so in a way that is going to be well received by the person they are influencing. They understand things like emotional intelligence and motivation. Sometimes those highly influential leaders are individual contributors. THEY MAY NOT DESIRE to wear the title of manager, but choose to instead influence in place.
Some of the best leaders that I’ve been around have focused on the important things and made me a better person for it. Their influence served me in my career and I’m forever grateful they committed to doing things better.
Regardless of your title, role or career trajectory, do you want to impact the people around you? Do you want to be a servant leader that not only recognizes the abilities of those around you, but empowers people to succeed on their own? We offer several solutions from classroom training, to 1-1 coaching that help you build your power to influence. To learn more, schedule a free discovery call.
