If at first you don’t succeed, try, try, again. By being bold and ambitious with your influencing goals, you are setting yourself apart from the massive majority of those who are content with mediocrity. This means that you will face resistance. The more ambitious you are, the more resistance you are likely to face.
By developing tenacity — the ability to keep going — you are reinforcing a critical skill that will help you to become more effective as an influencer. If you’ve had a meeting and someone has said no, remain objective and try to figure out why. How can you change your approach, proposal or ideas to get them to say yes? Keep coming back with more until they agree. Naturally, tenacity needs to be balanced and sensitively delivered. Quiet and assertive determination wins over aggressive and belligerent behaviour.
Take action on this secret…
- Think of as many ways in which you will benefit from achieving your goal.
- Consider this broadly and find as many as you can.
- Raise the level of priority in your overall work so that it starts to become critical for you to achieve this goal.
- Treat each setback as a learning opportunity. Why did it happen? What was ineffective about your approach? What could you have done differently? How can you modify your approach when you try again?
- Know when to let it go. Listen to what others are saying and make sure you don’t become a pain.
- Keep thinking creatively about how your idea will help others.
And remember, by showing tenacity you are demonstrating a high level commitment to your goals. This can often win the day even in the absence of a logical business case.
