How to Coach Yourself and Others Influencing, Inter Personal and Leadership Skills | Page 8

1. What is Influence? - The word "influence" comes from the Latin "in" meaning "in" and "fluere": "to flow". - Influence = the power to produce an effect, often unobtrusively (Oxford English Dictionary) - "Influence is the ability to affect others' thoughts, feelings and actions - seen only in its effects - without exertion of force or formal authority." (Elaina Zucker) - "Influence is the process by which one person modifies the attitudes and behaviour of another person. Power is the means by which he or she does it." - “Influence is getting people to do something or to think or behave in a certain way” (US Department of Homeland Security – FEMA) - Organisations are fine weaves of influencing patterns where individuals seek to get others to think or act in certain ways." The two types of influence Positional Influence Positional influence results from a designated position that is responsible for guiding others. Positional influence is when a person is elected or appointed to a position such as a mayor, or manager. The best uses of positional influence are when there are strict rules and established procedures, when automatic compliance is required, to recognize and strengthen good performance and to deal with performance or conduct issues. The downside of positional influence is that it generally results in compliance, not commitment: people do what you want to because you’re the boss. Personal or interpersonal Influence Unlike positional influence, (inter)personal influence is based on trust, support and collaboration and has to be developed or earned. You build (inter)personal influence as you build relationships and gain knowledge and experience in your job, demonstrating your own qualities and skills, such as: - building trust and reliability through talking the walk and walking the talk, honest communication, respect one another’s knowledge, skills and abilities, maintain confidentiality. - good listening, communication and reacting skills: active listening, paraphrasing and reflecting feelings, effective balancing of inquiry and advocacy, effective speaking and interviewing skills, distinguishing between emotion and content. - attending and encouraging - a sense of humour - facilitating change: being able to communicate change effectively - exert your personal influence to achieve your goals (Inter)personal skills results in commitment to the task or purpose: people decide that they want to work with you to get the job done. The best uses of (inter)personal influence is when you have no direct authority over others, when a “buy-in” is required, when creativity and to-way information sharing is required, with professionals who expect tot be treated with respect and to work collaboratively, for team-building, for responding to change.