Achieving Results Through INfluence
“You have achieved excellence as a leader when people will follow you everywhere if only out of curiosity."
~Colin Powell
Purpose:
In this process, you will have the opportunity to explore a work and/or life situation and learn the difference between achieving sustainable results through influence. When the goal is to achieve sustainable, long-term change and results, it requires influence and you don’t need a title or position to influence others. Mark Sanborn, author of You Don’t Need a Title to be a Leader, states, “The simple fact of having a title won’t make you a leader. Influence and inspiration come from the person not the position.” This process will provide the opportunity to experience it that it is not the title that earns the respect and sustainable results it is the actions of the individual.
Objectives:
- To define proven principles of leadership
- To personalize action steps to become a more influential leader
Background:
Ponder this question, “If you had no title or ability to reward or penalize others, could you still get them to follow you?” You can, but only through influence. The American Heritage Dictionary defines influence as “The action or process of producing effects on the actions, behavior, opinions, etc., of another or others.” According to John Maxwell, we act as leaders when we positively influence others. When we use influence as our means of achieving a goal or objective we create long term results in which others are motivated to participate and perform at their greatest level.
Set Up :
This process can be completed as an individual or group within your business, family and/or community organization.
Materials needed: Paper or flip chart, pen/pencil.
Process:
1. Review the objectives of this process.
2. Print out the table titled “6 Principles of Leadership.” Print enough copies for each person participating in this process.
3. As a group (or individual) document a real-life situation where voluntary participation from a group of people is required to accomplish a task. In other words, you have no formal authority or control over getting this group of people to participateSome examples of this are:
- Family/Community: Getting your family to want to volunteer their time to give back to the community (homeless shelter, Red Cross, United Way shelter, church initiative, etc.)
- Business: You have been given the opportunity to coordinate a group of volunteers to educate, sponsor and launch a new benefits initiative where participation is not mandatory, yet the more people that choose to participate, the more financially beneficial it is to the organization. There must be buy-in at all levels of the organization.
- Business: You have been tasked to lead a group of peers in a cross-departmental initiative to streamline paperwork or customer responsiveness.
4. Have each participant read the definition of each principle. If you are working as a group, discuss each definition and how it applies to the group.
5. Using the agreed upon situation, have each participant give examples of how they would apply each principle to accomplish the task through influence, without having formal authority or position.
6. Reflect and discuss the following questions (as a group if working with a team):
- What are the characteristics of one who is leading through influence? (Be specific. What does influence look like, feel like, and sound like?)
- How does one know if they are truly influencing those around them?
7. Provide each individual with a worksheet to record their desired outcomes and the positive actions that will lead to each desired outcomes. All outcomes and positive actions should support a solution to the identified situation. Below is an example:
Group Situation: Shipping deadlines are being missed
| 6 Principles | Definition |
Desired Outcome |
Positive Actions |
| Power of Self Mastery | Leading from within – you can’t lead others until you first lead yourself | Become a role model to co-workers | -Be early to work every day -Maintain a positive attitude |
| Power of Focus | To intentionally engage and stay engaged in the most valuable and profitable activities. | Increased personal accountability | -Establish daily activities -Set goals, share them with co-workers, and report progress
|
1 .Establish you personal action items by answering all three questions in the conclusion. After each personal has established the actions they are committed to taking, share them as a group to allow for increased accountability and teamwork.
Conclusion:
Whether someone has a title or not, influence is key in getting people to do something. We are all in a position of influence in our career, in our families, with our relationships. One does not need the title of father to influence a child. One does not need the title of CEO to influence the results of an organization. As Mark Sanborn reminds us, “Our choices in life have a huge impact on the kind of education we get, the kinds of jobs we land, the relationships we develop and become involved in, and the quality of the lives we live. The desire to influence the world around us is what real leadership is all about.” A leader seeks a self-sustaining method of generating action.
Personal Action Items:
- Using the situation from this process, how are you currently inspiring and influencing those around you? What will you do to inspire and influence those around you even more? Be specific. What will you sound like? What will it feel like? How will people respond to you?
- Based on the situation you explored in this process, what actions are you committed to taking to increase your ability to influence others in this situation? Be specific.
- How will you measure the difference in results as your influence increases?
“Leaders inspire, and seek to keep the atmosphere of inspiration – the call to significance- alive in others. You don’t have to be the boss to do this; anyone can. Where the quality of your effort is as important as its end result, everyone should.”
~Dov Seidman
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