Expand sphere of influence

Got influence?

According to author and management expert Kenneth Blanchard, "The key to successful leadership today is influence, not authority."

A 2009 study published by the American Society of Radiologic Technologists in one of the association's peer-reviewed scientific journals confirms that leadership style influences employee satisfaction. And in his book, "The Tipping Point," Malcolm Gladwell discusses how social influence plays a key role in spreading new ideas. In a world based on relationships, positive influence is your ticket to the dance.

Influence is your ability to make an appeal for action based on logic, emotion, a sense of cooperation or some combination of all three and comes into play in both our professional and personal relationships.

As you rise higher within an organization, influence -- the ability to get work done with and through other people -- is a must-have skill in your leadership tool kit. "As a manager who empowers others, you will act as a colleague more than a boss, relying on influence, respect and relationships to work with employees," David Jamieson and Julie O'Mara write in Managing Workforce 2000.

To assess your influence skills, ask yourself a few questions:

--Can I get people to act?

--Can I persuade other people to become my champion and support my projects?

--Is my word and/or my involvement sufficient to make something happen?

--Do others actively seek out my advice and opinion?

--Do people want to follow me?

Answering "no" to these questions means it's time to amp up your influence skills. Truly excellent influence skills require a healthy combination of interpersonal, communication, presentation and assertiveness techniques, all abilities that can be learned. Ready to get started?

--Influence builder skill No. 1. Be a perceptive observer. Know what's going on by watching, asking and validating your observations. Tune into the cultural dynamics of your workplace. Learn how to comprehend social situations, e.g. what nonverbal communication is telling you or what elephant remains in the room.

--Influence builder skill No. 2. Be a broker of ideas and information. Become the "go-to" person for relevant facts, data, news and resources. Freely share information. Joseph Badaracco, Harvard Business School professor, advises, "In today's environment, hoarding knowledge ultimately erodes your power. If you know something very important, the way to get power is by actually sharing it."

--Influence builder skill No. 3. Be self-aware. Know your strengths, your limitations, play to what you do best and understand how others perceive you. This is EQ, emotional intelligence, at work. Connect with what makes you tick. Then use that self-knowledge to connect with and inspire others.

--Influence builder skill No. 4. Give, give, GIVE! Be known as a giver, not a taker. Offer to help before someone asks. Don't worry about getting credit. Concentrate on sharing for the greater good of the organization and for others. Speaker and best-selling author Bob Burg says, "The successful networkers I know, the ones receiving tons of referrals and feeling truly happy about themselves, continually put the other person's needs ahead of their own."

--Influence skill builder No. 5. Embrace accountability. When team members fail to live up to expectations, a good dose of corrective but kind feedback can work wonders, not only to get the job done but also to establish your influence as people learn that participating in a project with you yields successful results. Communicate and enforce your standards, but be sure to provide support along the way. Be clear about the consequences for outcomes and/or behaviors that fall below expectations and follow through consistently -- for both your personal efforts and those of others.

Practice these skills to grow your sphere of influence and your level of success.

Jane Perdue, consultant, coach, speaker and author, is the Principal/CEO of The Braithewaite Group.

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Edito'rs note: Earlier published versions of this story needed clarification regarding the American Society of Radiologic Technologists' relationship to a leadership style study.