Today I'd like to share with you five ways to influence others in
order to get what you want AND create win:win outcomes.
Leadership has taken on new meaning and greater challenges in the
last decade. Influencing is a critical skill that must be mastered
simply because we work with a multitude of people. Often times, the
people that we work with may have different goals and agendas and
in order to establish meaningful win-win outcomes, you must know
how to influence without making it feel like a power or authority
struggle. Below are five key things that you must do in order to
effectively lead and influence others.
**Know What You Want - Start with the end in mind. It sounds pretty
simplistic but sometimes it's not. You must clearly know what the
end state is and what outcome you desire. Once you have this
figured out, you have to be able to master the art of articulation
and speaking on what you want. This will be even more critical if
you know that some people will not agree with what you are
presenting. Often times, the difference between getting what you
want is knowledge and assertiveness versus none at all.
If you have a hard time stating what you want, use a three step
process to get it done:
1. State your observations. These are the facts and things that can
be
seen and heard. Observations are different from opinions. Facts are
objective and can not be argued.
2. State your thoughts and feelings about the situation. Be sure to
start each of these statements with the word "I" so that it's clear that these are your
opinions.
3. State what you want the other person to do. If you
truly want the door to be open to alternative solutions, make
statements about your needs rather than presenting solutions up
front. If you state the solution too early, it might close the door
on other possible alternatives.
**Be Proactive and Build a Power Base - Build a foundation for
influence before you need it. Having a good power base of
relationships with others will make influencing a much easier task.
Be proactive and do not wait until you need something to start
showing an interest in what others are doing. Build all around
positive relationships both vertically and horizontally. This means
that you establish rapport and build relationships with everyone
from the receptionist to people at higher levels within the
organization or community. Most importantly, act with integrity and
work to earn the trust of your colleagues.
**Inspire Cooperation to Overcome Resistance - Do your research so
that you can anticipate reactions and be prepared to address them.
If you know in advance how people are likely to respond to your
proposition or idea, you will be better prepared to deal with their
reactions or resistance. A few things that you must do are to
determine whose support you absolutely need to have and speak with
others to clearly understand what you need to do to get their
buy-in. Identify peers or others who may have some insight about
that person's purpose and values and ask for insight. Ask for
feedback from those you trust and anyone else who may be involved.
Keeping these things in mind will allow you to get meaningful
commitments.
**Go In to Win With An Agreeable Exchange - Ensure that your
position addresses the needs of others. Research, research, research is the
key here. If you go in with the goal of creating a win/win outcome,
getting the buy-in or mindshare of others will be much easier. Be
sure to think of everyone that you proposal will affect not just
the key stakeholder. Consider their concerns and how you might
address them in your proposal. Offer something of value in
exchange. It's a give and take world and knowing this up front will
increase your overall chances of success.
**Continued Skill Building - Now that you've had experience with
using this process to win someone over, continue building on your
expertise. Look for small projects where you can use your
influencing skills and create more wins for yourself. This will get
you prepared for the day that the "BIG" idea shows up. You'll now
be equipped with the skill, knowledge and confidence
that you need to tackle it with ease.
Self Assessment & Action Steps:
Think about your own career and the position that you currently
hold. Now really dig deep, be honest and ask yourself the
following questions:
I place a premium on being able to positively influence others.
___ Yes ___ No
I thoroughly do my research before any meeting where I am trying
gain the mindshare of others.
___ Yes ___ No
I work hard to build alliances throughout the organization and/or
community so that I will have the support that I need before I
actually need it.
___ Yes ___ No
I proactively seek feedback vertically and horizontally throughout
the organization on any and all influencing initiatives. When I
receive that feedback, I take what's useful and relevant and put a
plan into place to work it.
___ Yes ___ No
I have a mentor or professional coach to assist me and give me
guidance and feedback.
___ Yes ___ No
I am fully accountable for my level of success. I own it, take
action and celebrate when I win.
___ Yes ___ No
For every yes, please write specifically what you are currently
doing that makes it effective. Now look for opportunities to build
upon these engagements to help continue to grow and develop. What
will you do next?
For every no, please write one thing that you will do to implement
this into your career development strategy. Be very specific and
give yourself a deadline to get it done. Once you have it done,
celebrate your success AND come back to this email and answer
the questions to the Yes scenario above.
Until next time...
Felicia
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