Influence – upwards, laterally, downwards and in circles
in a previous post, How to Influence Your Boss, I explored how to influence upwards, but just as important is how to influence laterally.
When I teach a programs on influence or influence without authority, I ask participants to create a circle of influence like the diagram below.
I then ask them to put ticks or crosses, representing ability or inability to influence, against each circle. Obviously some circles will need sub-circles to represent individual key people. This is a useful exercise to map out where you need to develop or strengthen your influence.
In a modern matix style organisation, your success will be determined not just by what you do, but by what you can influence others to do. The effective manager/leader learns to find out what is important to the people in their circle of influence and communicates to them in terms of what matters them rather than directly stating their own needs.
Another previous post, titled ‘Leadeship is Influence’ expands on finding needs and looks at what are people’s currencies. When you know what is valuable, a currency, to another person you can trade them what they want for what you want.
I have been coaching a senior manager who had a history of antagonising clients and colleagues alike by telling them what he thinks is the right thing to do. We had discussed this and he had commited to stop “telling” and start finding out what’s important to the people in his circle. This week he reported a dramatic improvement in his relationship and that he was getting things done quicker. This result surprised him because he thought it would take longer to ask questions than to tell people what seem to him to be an obvious solution.
Have you drawn a circle of influence? Do you know the currencies of the people you work with? Are you exercising all the influence you could?
Feel free to let me know.
Are you Gen Y or do you manage Gen Y?