Extract from Influential Leadership: A Leader’s Guide to Getting Things Done
In the pages which follow, I am going to cover, as quickly as possible, the wide variety of things which can influence people, without going into lots of theory. In the process you will begin to discover what makes you influential at the moment, while also finding out what makes other people influential – perhaps you can be more like them too. Often it is easier than you might imagine.
What follows is an outline of the broad categories based on the responses from thousands of individuals in my workshops, and a large amount of personal research too.
- Credibility: The power derived from your professional standing and expertise. Read now..
- Character: The underlying traits, values and beliefs which shape your behaviour. Read now.
- Presence: The impact you create and the feelings you stimulate when people meet you. Read now.
- Position: The roles you play and how you manoeuvre yourself into the limelight. Read now.
- Connections: The network of relationships you have around you and your work. Read now.
- Skills: Those exceptional abilities you have which enable you to get things done. Read now.
- Agenda: The issues and priorities you focus your leadership attention on. Read now.
As you read, pause every now and again and reflect on your own examples in each source of power. What have you seen influence others really well? Why does it work? This will help you to link it to your own experiences and make more use of the new ideas presented.