This unique five-day course is now available for those who want to begin to get moving with becoming more influential. It will help you to learn from the most successful influencers, and take practical action to improve the results that you get.
Handling Conflicting Agendas
When you are clear about what you want to achieve, it is often frustrating to find that others do not share your enthusiasm. A great deal of time and effort is expended building the case, considering the risks and planning the execution. Everything seems to make sense and you are keen to get going – you want to implement swiftly. Then the problems start.
Reaching out to your stakeholders, you begin to find out that some are not interested. They fail to buy-in to your project or, worse, don’t even give you the time to explain your plans. When you do get to see them, they start to share insights with you about other things going on elsewhere in the organisation, which seem to be in direct conflict with what you are working on.
Trouble is, you can see that they may have a valid point. Doubts begin to Read More
Making Sense of Political Upheaval
At times the power games and political manoeuvring appear undecipherable. An implicit feature of politics is that of imperfect information — not many know what is really going on. And the actors often relish and encourage that. Mere mortals should keep out of the way, unless they serve as useful and expendable pawns.
In this article, I'm going to expand on a previous article (Understanding Your Reputational Context) and up the ante by sharing with you a process whereby you can apply Scenario Planning to deepen your insight and hopefully, foresight. Read More
Political Situation Case Study D: Turf Wars
Turf Wars: Two powerful people are fighting to win control of your function -- and you are caught in the middle
In any organisation there are powerful people. Most seek to acquire more power and influence. As their power grows, someone else loses power. People compete to acquire more resources, more control -- and anything else they can get their hands on -- to become more influential. Their motive may be authentic and have integrity – but it is natural to seek more territory. The arrival of the matrix structure means we see Turf Wars more often. Many of us now have two -– or more – bosses which makes this dilemma more likely. If our bosses are competing with each other, we are Read MorePolitical Situation Case Study C: Power Vacuum
The Power Vacuum: Your boss has moved on and a successor has yet to be appointed. Suddenly nobody is quite sure what to do
Good leadership provides direction and purpose for our team. Great leaders direct our efforts to where they will have the greatest impact. They help us to work together by making the tough calls and keeping us on track. An effective leader is a stabilising and motivating influence on us. They enable us to perform and help us enhance our career. But, what happens when they leave unexpectedly? What was once taken Read MoreNine Potent Ways to Influence Your Colleagues
We talk a great deal about influencing stakeholders here on the influence blog, yet sometimes it is those closest to you that are a missed opportunity. If you can influence your colleagues, team members and closest co-workers, a great many others things become possible.
So, without further ado, here are nine ways you can become a more influential team member:
- Understand their goals. Key to being influential with people is having a deep insight into what they are striving for, or trying to avoid. If you can figure out their personal and professional agendas, you will develop a keener sense of how things that you do will affect them, and how they will react.
- Be an enthusiast, of them. My oldest self-development book (Masters of the Situation by James Tilley, 1888) proposes enthusiasm as one of the secrets of power and influence. Still true, and here you can apply it to your colleagues and their goals.
Can I Trust You? Are You Sure?
Obvious answer – of course you can! You know that. But, do they?
It is far easier that you may realise for others to distrust you. You don’t need to do anything wrong to see their level of trust in you dip. Indeed, it may be nothing whatsoever to do with you. However, the negative impact on your work will be big.
Read More
Are You Worth Trusting? You Sure?
Obvious answer – of course you are! You know that. But, do they?
It is far easier that you may realise for others to distrust you. You don’t need to do anything wrong to see their level of trust in you dip. Indeed, it may be nothing whatsoever to do with you. However, the negative impact on your work will be big.
Below I am going to share thirteen reasons why trust may be declining around you – then you can take steps to arrest any decline, or make sure it doesn’t start to drop in the first place.
Before I do that…
What is Trust?
“The degree to which someone can predict how you will respond in certain situation.”
For instance: giving them an honest answer to a straight question; remaining calm when disputes arise; supporting their work when the need arises. In practice, this usually means that they believe you will respond in a favourable way. Defining trust this way can also include Read MorePolitical Situation Case Study B: The Interim
The Interim: You’ve accepted a fantastic job. The problem is that you’ve been told -- and everyone knows -- that it’s a temporary position, and things quickly start to get awkward.
Interim appointments are becoming a more common feature of organisational life, especially at senior levels. The speed that ambitious and talented individuals move onwards and upwards results in key appointments forever needing to be filled – and if the organisation’s performance is not going to suffer unduly, then filling the vacancy quickly is important – but not as Read MorePolitical Situation Case Study A: The Apprentice
The Apprentice: The new guy has arrived and is strongly favoured by the CEO. He is creating lots of disruption for your team.
Anyone who has been working in an organisation -– particularly a large one -- will know that disruption is common, and often uncomfortable. While we may be able to manage our own work skilfully, the competitive environment places continuous pressure on us all to perform better and in different ways. Our ability to handle this relentless pressure to change -- and the ambiguity that Read More- « Previous Page
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