The ability to influence other people has been studied for centuries. Fortunately, for the most part, the timeless interest in growing an ability to influence has been positive. How can you develop skills in this core ability that enable you to get the best out of people, and steer them towards a shared goal of merit?
Clarity of purpose
Part of the skill in influencing people positively is to set out with clear intent. What action, or reaction, are you hoping to achieve?
If this were in a business context, then it could be persuading people to buy from you. This is not a purely altruistic motive then! The same could be said of encouraging employees to learn more, develop skills and expand their own competencies. It’s for their own advancement, but also the stability and growth of your company.
However, sometimes ‘purer’ intentions apply. For example, influencing peers to create a more unified and cohesive trade body or campaign, or persuading business contacts to join forces to advance an important industry-wide corporate social responsibility or sustainability goal.
Whatever your motivation and audience, being clear on your purpose creates a road map and evaluation method to support your ability to achieve a positive outcome.
Emotional intelligence and empathy
For any purpose, it is highly likely that your ability to influence a positive outcome will rely on emotional intelligence. This refers to the process of understanding and managing your own emotional status and attributes, as well as being empathetic to the emotional needs of others.
Influencing a positive outcome can rely on you knowing what to say and do, which appeals to your audience on an emotional level.
Being an authentic leader
The biggest difference between managers and leaders is emotional intelligence. Strong leadership is also based on knowing the value of the twin pillars of business relationships – competence and warmth.
Authentic leaders have the power to influence, as they can use the above attributes to nurture, motivate, unify and inspire people around them. They grow trust and confidence in them; a powerful incentive for people to change their own opinions and directions.
Making people feel valued, appreciated and rewarded
The above points all add to this element of influencing people in a positive way. The more your target audience feel included and recognised in a process or decision, the more likely they are to contribute to a positive outcome.
The same applies to influencing your peers or even your superiors. To get a positive effect, you must be able to draw on their skills and contributions and make them feel respected.
Good communication skills
Good communication is not necessarily all about being a gifted speaker or having a strong command of the language that can influence an audience or individual. Good communication starts with active listening.
“Listen more than you talk. Nobody learnt anything by hearing themselves speak.” Richard Branson.
From asking the right questions, encouraging feedback and welcoming the views of others, comes greater insight and empathy.
Good communication that helps in creating influence can also involve something as simple as maintaining eye contact. Studies have shown that when speaking, we generally make eye contact between 30 to 60% of the time. To be purposeful and influential, you would need to increase that to 60 to 70%.
Encouraging and stimulating creativity and inclusivity
To influence in a positive way, there should be no bad ideas, or blame/shame when something goes wrong. Everyone’s views and contributions are equal in merit. Also, experimentation and free thinking can be welcomed.
Not only can this policy engage and inspire an audience, resulting in positivity, but it can even be a way to amend and update the purpose of the interaction by incorporating innovation.
Strong knowledge, skills and resources
Mention has already been made of the twin pillars of competence (and warmth). People are far more likely to respond positively and tangibly to others if they respect and admire them.
Being able to demonstrate how much time and effort you have invested in your own experience, expertise and contacts undoubtedly will add weight to your ability to create a positive influence.
Knowing how to blend these attributes
Clearly, the more of the above you can blend together, the more opportunity you have to create an impact; influencing a diverse range of people to achieve wholly positive outcomes.
Take for instance, a list of the most influential people in global travel. If you evaluate the contributions and attributes of these individuals, you will see they display the hallmarks of authentic leadership, excellent communications, emotional intelligence and high levels of both competence and warmth; to name but a few of the things you need to be a strong influencer.
So, how will you develop your influencing skills?
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