Editor’s note: Paul Kirch is CEO of Actus Sales Intelligence, a Fort Worth, Texas, business and sales consulting agency, and Actus-360, a technology services providor. He can be reached at 214-295-6111 or at pkirch@actussales.com.
I was recently conducting Influencing with Impact training at one of the nation’s largest financial investment companies. While the majority of my career has been working in or with marketing research firms I often do work outside of the research industry, which gives me a broader set of experiences. Quite frankly, my research industry experience has provided a foundation that far exceeds any one vertical because researchers work across so many areas of business.
We’ve all met people who seem to be highly influential. From CEOs to politicians, the ability to influence and motivate seems natural. Often we associate this with charisma, charm or, in many instances, power. But effective influence doesn’t just happen. It’s actually a skill and it can be taught. How do you get your colleagues, manager and other people to buy into your ideas or to follow your lead? The higher your ability to influence, the more likely you’ll be able to accomplish both of those things. Influence is the ability to have others take a desired action while building and maintaining the relationship you’ve established. This is not about coercion. In fact, people who are coercive or those who leverage intimidation are rarely influential. They may accomplish results but it’s usually short-lived and leads to negative feelings. From a brand perspective this can be very damaging.
Being able to accurately read situations, individuals and groups while applying the appropriate type of influence behaviors is an essential skill to becoming successful at leading or, more importantly, at impacting others. To be successful as a leader, the ability to influence others including people you have no direct control of is a must.
During the training I was in a room of investment industry experts listening to the challenges they face with internal and external communication. I felt I could have been sitting in a gathering of people from any number of industries, including marketing research, hearing the same frustrations and hurdles. I listened to stories of struggles with getting buy-in from colleagues and management when it came to implementing changes or setting objectives. Facing competitive pressure externally and influencing prospects and customers was also an issue.
The Influencing with Impact course is a two-day training which consists of pre-work assignments, various exercises and content that digs into the how and why behind influence. Here are four influencing approaches that get results and build relationships:
Involving – People who leverage this approach pull others into the decision-making and problem-solving process. They listen effectively to understand others’ perspectives even if they do not agree. This approach is related to caring and to focusing on providing multiple perspectives.
Aligning – Often associated with a teamwork mind-set, the aligning approach focuses on common goals and shared values. A “we are in this together” method creates a common vision and drives mutual benefit for all involved.
Persuading – Leveraging facts and logic, the persuading approach leads to a firm stance backed by data that can be used to support the decision. These individuals come across as experts and are highly influential in their approach.
Exchanging – Exchanging yields a win-win result. This type of influencer might leverage a gift or reward to support those who cooperate. They are also not afraid to exchange support for information. For example, “If you help me with this initiative, I’ll finish the report for Company XYZ.”
While the ultimate objective is to gain a commitment, often the result is the weaker position of compliance. Compliance may have the same result as commitment but it’s not going to yield the same degree of support and engagement. No individual is limited to one approach. Even the best influencers often fall short of their goal but learning to leverage multiple strategies may turn a failing situation into a victory.
As mentioned before, coercion is a non-influential approach, at least in regards to a long-term relationship approach. Coercion alienates and strains relationship – it’s better to adopt a positive approach.
If you’d like to learn more about influence for you or your team, please feel free to reach out to me at pkirch@actussales.com. I will be hosting a free Webinar on this very topic and we’d love to understand the challenges you are facing so we can provide you feedback to address those areas.