As many of us are all too painfully aware, change seems to be the only constant these days. Many organizations, and the individuals in them, are finding themselves in a world that may not resemble anything they ever imagined. As a result, they need to cultivate a new skill set: influence skills.
Economic conditions, changing social and political climates, and current sociological trends in human behavior have led to a number of challenging issues in today’s workplace:
* New technologies have revolutionized the flow of communications across departmental and functional lines. Even “technocrats” and former loners (individual contributors) now must work on teams and task forces with others. Technological advances that promised to make our lives easier, and in many ways have, also have distanced us from our fellows. As John Naisbitt said in his book Megatrends, “High tech leaps ahead, high-touch lags behind.” In other words, we are losing personal contact with other individuals, and our human interaction skills are getting rusty in the process.
More and more, we will have to influence others in order to achieve our own goals. Innovation is no longer just the province of ”research” or “development.” Now we are all required to come up with innovative solutions to problems. But good ideas are just that—ideas—until you can influence someone to take action. So we are all going to have to become better influencers.
* Workers have a new set of values and expectations. Today’s workforce is more sophisticated and wants less of a “command” style and more of an “influence” style from management. Managers will have to learn new ways of managing and motivating their people in a more open, participative, “influencing” fashion.
* Organizational structures are becoming flatter and less hierarchical. This is partly the result of “streamlining,” “downsizing,” and “reorganizing.” Networks become much more important in this kind of structure, and there is much more need for interdepartmental and cross-functional collaboration.
With all these changes and uncertainties going on, neither what you know nor who you know will guarantee your success. Your technical know-how can become obsolete with the next new innovation, and even your network of carefully acquired contacts can vanish overnight with a surprise “reorganization.”
What will help? I call them Portable Power influence skills—a set of skills you can take with you any time, anywhere, to any organization.
We define influence as “the power to affect change, or to achieve a result, without the use of force or formal authority.” This means that to be truly influencing, you must cause a change of some kind in another’s behavior, actions, attitudes, or values.
Many people believe that the ability to influence others is simply a matter of good communications skills. Not so. Communications skills are only one part of the equation in getting other people to do what you want them to do. To achieve enthusiastic cooperation and consistent high performance, successful influencers use a carefully orchestrated, strategic approach.
Some people think that “real” leaders do not need influence skills; after all, the leader can demand that the staff carry out instructions. Wrong again. Today’s employees are less likely to mindlessly obey the old-style, top-down kind of management.
Finally, the word “influence” is often maligned, especially in government, and thought to connote manipulation. A way to distinguish between the two is that while “manipulation,” strictly speaking, means “skillful handling,” an interaction can be said to be a positive influence when the influencer has the intention to provide value, add benefit, or enhance the experience of the other person. It can be called manipulation if there is an intention to exploit or mislead the other or to misrepresent the product or service. Positive influence has as its result a win-win outcome. Both parties in the transaction reach their goals and sometimes even exceed them.
Becoming a better influencer
Different people use, and respond to, different styles of influencing. The so-called telling or analyst influence is a person who favors reason, logic, and an orderly process. This is the kind of person who must see and relies on concrete and solid evidence and data. Other styles are characterized by skills and behaviors such as negotiation or gaining rapport, strong listening, and creating a sense of vision or mission.
Most of us use one dominant or preferred style, and while it is interesting to become aware of one’s own style, if you are only using the same style all the time, you may not be as effective as you can be.
The real key to successful influencing rests in this formula: Influence = attentiveness = flexibility. That is, one must learn to become aware of other peoples’ styles, (attentiveness) and then develop the flexibility to shift into another’s style, so that the other person feels most comfortable. People are usually influenced by a style similar to their own.
The result? You will be a more effective influencer and will have a set of your own Portable Power tools to enhance your success in the fast-changing workplace of the 21st century.
Consultant Elaina Zuker is the author of Seven Secrets of Influence.
