LeaderShip Edge

December 2007 :: Become an Influencer

“Before you can influence change, you have to decide what you’re trying to change”

 - Kerry Patterson from his book “Influencer: The Power to Change Anything”

You’ve spent your entire career climbing.

From MBA student, to manager, to Vice-President.

Now you’ve reached your goal, the C-suite.

Your company’s employee turnover is 20% - industry average.

Customer service is passable – industry average.

You call your first meeting, deliver your “call to action” speech. You wait… nothing happens.

Perhaps it’s too soon. Perhaps, they didn’t understand.

Then it hits you. You realize at that moment that while you’ve been climbing the corporate ladder you have failed to notice that the rungs are meaningless, you’ve failed to develop some key relationships. You know the business inside and out, but you don’t know a thing about its people.

You are not an influencer.

How are you going to get these problems fixed?

The fact is modern businesses are constantly burdened by long-term problems. These problems don’t go away. They don’t change. They’re not getting any better.

The problem is not that we do not lack the courage to confront these problems – we lack the skill. People tend to act like “copers” rather than influencers.

The outcome is we develop complex coping mechanisms and justifications to deal with these problems without creating lasting change. Our business plans do not execute as expected and we have trouble motivating individuals to follow through with goals.

The solution is to recognize our ability to influence problems. Focus on a small number of “high leverage” behaviours or vital behaviours and apply these to your interactions to develop superior performance.

The question here is influence. Why do some organizations seem to resolve their issues while others remain stagnant?

What does it take to influence employees in order to get a solution implemented?

Becoming an Influencer

The key is to understand that you, as a leader, have the responsibility to find out what motivates your co-workers and apply that knowledge to get results from them.

There are two kinds of companies in the business world. One kind of company has leaders who are continually meeting new challenges. Other companies have leaders who resign to dealing with an ever-shrinking list of challenges “within their control”.

One set of companies is innovating and seeking to deal with its problems. The other is setting barriers for its accomplishments.

One organization has influencers, the other has leaders who develop coping mechanisms.

It’s so easy to be the second type of company. That’s the company that labels its challenges as “out of its control” or “impossible to resolve”. It is a company that accepts the status quo. It is a company with a group of leaders who don’t understand influence and haven’t taken the time to see how they can motivate others for performance.

Being an influencer involves two things. In the first place, it involves identifying the needs of your co-workers. Secondly, it involves identifying pressure points that will allow you to influence them. It’s a practice in organizational goal-setting and motivation.

Vital Behaviours

The most successful companies out there know what they want to change.

Jack Welch wanted to create a culture of open expression and continuous improvement at GE. Steve Jobs’ Apple is focused on constant creativity. These companies have identified vital behaviours they wish to replicate in the workplace.

Think about vital behaviours as actions to be achieved. This is what you want your co-workers to do to resolve a problem.

There’s no cookie-cutter list here. Vital behaviours are different from company to company.

Sources of Influence

How do you become an organization that influences employees to succeed?

We’re not talking about persuasion here. It’s definitely not about lecturing your employees to follow strict procedures. Many companies try this approach. Most of the time they get spotty results. Some employees are attentive, most aren’t.

It’s quite simple. We’re talking about personal needs and pressure points that encourage performance from employees.

Why should an employee care? What’s in it for them?

Top Performers

The most influential leaders have identified these sources and are using them to overcome their challenges. These top performers behave in two different ways that separate them from the rest:

1)      They reward positive performance more often than their peers.

2)      They rapidly alternate between teaching and questioning.

Who does these things in your organization? Who does them more often?

The real question is which organizations have more people doing these things more often?

In Our Opinion

The Beacon Group’s Keys to developing your organization’s influencers

Three key points to starting the influence process in your workplace:

1)      Be on the lookout for serenity.

Serenity is another way of describing a stagnant attitude. People naturally seek serenity. Watch for anyone in the workplace identifying items “within our control” and those “out of our control”. Be different from the norm and target the items that everyone believes are “out of our control”.

2)      Start small.

Start by using one influencing behaviour and watch how it impacts other behaviours. It may be difficult to use several sources of influence at the beginning. Just one will make a big difference. 

3)      Focus on behaviours.

Find what you want to change and focus on those aspects. Refrain from drawing out vague strategies or desired outcomes. Focus on actions and align your processes to motivate individuals.