The power of influencing people

It is probably true to say that no matter what your position, you are never able to control staff members completely. But influencing them to do what you want is a major part of management. And it is a skill that has to be developed.

Ideally, you want to be able to let people control themselves in ways that benefit you. If you tell people what to do, they may not listen to you and will probably resent you. You must get people to do what they want to do, while you influence their control over themselves. All in all, that is very much an art, that very few people perfect, but we can all strive towards it.

There are two ways to get people to do what you want. The first, behaviour modification, allows you to change a person's undesirable behaviours using positive reinforcement.

The second method of influencing is reality modification. This influencing technique is successful because of the way in which your requests are presented.

To influence a fellow worker or a subordinate, you need to have a very clear idea in your mind about what to achieve, whether it be changing another person's undesirable behaviours or persuading him to accept your point of view. Fix this idea of what you want to achieve firmly in your mind. Know exactly what you want, and clarify any vague objectives you may have. Clarity of personal purpose is the first step to putting your influencing abilities to work.

Influencing skills have become far more important these days. The more we need co-operation, consent, agreement and empathy, the more important inter-personal influencing skills become. We may also call it the power of persuasion. Influencing is more than trying to sell something—whether it’s an idea, model or hypothesis. It is our ability to present our viewpoint and ideas with greater clarity, logic and confidence. Many a time, we reject an idea, services, products or suggestions because we have negative feelings and attitudes at the time. Influencing also means understanding people and their viewpoints and adding value to their perspectives.

If you are running a project, leading a team or trying to win a contract, think about the people you need to influence. What if you could get behind their scepticism or defences? What if they could see the world from your vantage, and enjoy the view? What if they could see just what was possible?

In many cases, the key to influencing other people lies in firing their imaginations. Don’t argue with them. Don’t proposition them.

Yet, simple as this may sound, influencing others, whether at work or anywhere else, can be a complex endeavour. There is no single method that’s right in all situations.

Even with trying to influence one individual. What is effective on one occasion, will not have any impact on another occasion. Within a particular workplace, people are influenced by other workers, by various decisions, by management and by changing events.

For some people, particularly people in supervisory roles, their job requires them to influence workers just about all of the time.

• You may need to gain support for a decision higher up, or for a work method;
• You may need to inspire others;
• You may need to motivate workers; and
• You may need to fire up a staff member’s imagination.

All of this is influencing, and if you are a skilled influencer, you are more effective in your role.

Strangely, people who are successful in influencing others, tend to attract ‘supporters’ or ‘friends.’ It’s as though they are playing the ‘godfather figure.’ They make things happen. Of course, almost by definition, people who have refined influencing skills are not likely to feel powerless to change the status quo.

Truly excellent influencing skills require a healthy combination of interpersonal, communication, presentation and assertiveness techniques.