6 Areas of Influence Every Leader Should Develop
Whether you’re trying to make a sale, convince your colleagues to adopt your idea or get executives to endorse a new initiative, chances are you spend a lot of your time at work trying to convince others to buy into your agenda. Strategically applying influence can help you convince customers and co-workers that your way is the way to go. And being able to effectively influence others is an essential leadership skill.Whether you’re in an official leadership role or not, building influence helps you get work done better and more efficiently. And as your influence increases, you’ll find more opportunities to achieve your goals and build your network.While you’re building your influence and climbing the leadership ladder, you’ll also be establishing your personal brand and professional reputation. That means you’ll need to be consistent and use your influence well because people are constantly observing your behavior and forming theories about your competence, character and commitment, which are rapidly disseminated throughout your workplace.So what qualities should you keep in mind when building influence? I addressed this question in a recent interview with The Times-Picayune. Read on to learn the six areas of influence every leader should work to develop.
Character
Influence can be easily built through trust and honesty. While establishing influence, it’s important to maintain integrity and respect in both your personal and professional lives. Through your actions and decisions, you show others who you are, even when you make mistakes. And when you mess up, owning up to your mistakes can help you build trust and respect.
Expertise and Information
Share expertise, special skills and information relating to work with employees, coworkers and stakeholders. Keep in mind that sharing information and using your unique skills and gifts to help others be successful drives overall team and organization success, and makes you a valuable team member. If you lend your expertise, critical information and advice, you’re connecting with your employees and stakeholders by showing you care about their work and success while also showing your expertise and building influence.
Connectedness and Collaboration
It’s important to make connections with all your stakeholders. From internal customers to employees and peers, being someone people want to work with and for is a key ingredient of success. Isolating yourself from those around you can make you seem unapproachable and not a team player. Building relationships within your own organization can be the best type of influence you build. You can do this by making an effort to be approachable and relatable and intentional about relationship building.
Social and Political Intelligence
Successful leaders know how to manage themselves. This means how you dress, act and speak to others must be aligned and consistent with your company culture and with the various stakeholder perspectives in mind. Understanding the politics, key players and critical perspectives as you approach your goals and projects is important to being successful in any organization. Open communication is key in avoiding and resolving conflict.
Access to Resources and Funding
To build influence in this area, it’s important to form relationships with those who have expertise in areas where you don’t. Connect with stakeholders who know how to make things happen in the company and understand how to get resources and funding to meet goals and objectives. These people can help you understand the influences within your organization and industry that you may not otherwise get to see.
Results
Delivering results makes you a trusted, respected contributor and leader among employees and co-workers. If you’re accountable and deliver on commitments and results, even when circumstances are rough, you’ll build your influence among those that count on you.Looking for ways to build your areas of influence? Contact us for help.Success Labs is a leadership development and management consulting firm in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. For more than 25 years, our expert team of consultants has worked with hundreds of companies to explore their business potential and improve their company and cultural performance. Contact us to get proactive about your people strategy.
