Influencing Your Way to a Successful Business

influence Aug 18, 2021
 
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Summary

Leadership is a big piece of a successful business and a bazillion books have been written on what makes a great leader. Leadership has changed drastically throughout the years.  As different generations have learned through the practice of different leadership styles, what was successful and acceptable 30 years ago doesn’t fly today. 

The days of the dictatorship are just not as well received as they once were.  You may remember your parents or your grandparents if they worked a job where they were the “employee”.  They likely went to work, were told what to do, were told what the expected outcome was and they were paid for doing that job.  If the result was not as expected they may have been demoted or worse yet fired. If they did perform as expected they never heard a word about it. You typically had one leader or maybe management teams that were in charge of leading the troops and the troops were expected to follow.  This was not unusual and was not questioned, as this is the way it had been for generations before them. 

The passion was missing because they were never part of the building of the goal and certainly never saw the fruits of their labor when something became a reality.

Were those leaders?  Or were they influencers?  I think that is where the difference lies and things can get muddy.   People that dictate to others can certainly be influential, but likely not in a positive way.  Think about a time when you were reprimanded either as a child or by a supervisor.  Did that person influence your behavior? You did not want to be in that uncomfortable position again.  The difference is that people that are influencers tend to have a more role-model mentality, they are people that we emulate to be like.  Now let me be very clear here, influencers are certainly influential in what we do, and they raise us up to be better, whereas someone can be influential and not be an influencer.  

Leadership has taken on a different look and it is interesting that in order for the leadership of today to be satisfied, they typically need to be the ones that make the change. Even though they are not always the first to see it that way.  We hear over and over how leaders can’t get their teams, staff, employees or whatever title they use within their system to buy into the vision or the goals.  Staff turnover is high, as today’s employees have realized the importance of being happy and fulfilled both personally and in their careers.  When we interview people regarding what it would take for them to be excited about what they do, the most common responses are:

To be appreciated

To be listened to

To have the ability to have a say

To be able to take some ownership in the creation of projects.

All of these things put a different spin on the whole leader/employee relationship.  As leaders our teams need to build something together, collaborate and brainstorm and challenge each other.

Full Transcript

So you want to be influential…you may even think you are influential…but are you really?  Let’s find out what makes others think of us as an influential person.

I am Leigh Wilson, founder of Focus Forward Business Design where we honor the synchronicity of the whole person by embracing the belief that all parts of a person’s life must be in alignment to achieve true success and fulfillment at the highest level.

We all know that leadership is a big piece of a successful business and a bazillion books have been written on what makes a great leader.  If you have jumped into this, you know that leadership has changed drastically throughout the years.  As different generations have learned through the practice of different leadership styles, what was successful and acceptable 30 years ago doesn’t fly today if you want to grow and have a business or division of highly effective individuals and big cool dreams and projects that make everyone you work with pumped up about what the future holds.

The days of the dictatorship for lack of a better word when it refers to some forms of leadership, are just not as well received as they once were.  You may remember your parents or your grandparents if they worked a job where they were the “employee”.  They likely went to work, were told what to do, were told what the expected outcome was and they were paid for doing that job.  If the result was not as expected they may have been demoted or worse yet fired. If they did perform as expected they never heard a word about it…after all that is their job. You typically had one leader or maybe management teams that were in charge of leading the troops and the troops were expected to follow.  This was not unusual and was not questioned, as this is the way it had been for generations before them. 

When I look back on that and think of those individuals that were important in my life and visualize their personalities, levels of accomplishment or even satisfaction with their performance all I can see is someone that has the same day, day in and day out that is responsible for growing the dreams of someone that they report to, or maybe even someone that their boss reports to.  It may go up a ladder higher than we can see.  When they finished their day and went home to their families there was never any excitement or even much talk about what they did with their day or what new exciting project they might be working on.  The passion was missing because they were never part of the building of the goal and certainly never saw the fruits of their labor when something became a reality.

So, ask yourself…were those leaders influential.  I suppose they were in some way, but were they influencers.  I think that is where the difference lies and things can get muddy.   People that dictate to others can certainly be influential, but likely not in a positive way.  I mean think about a time when you were reprimanded either as a child or by a supervisor.  Did that person influence your behavior….quite possibly, as you did not want to be in that uncomfortable position again.  The difference is that people that are influencers tend to have a more role-model mentality, they are people that we emulate to be like.  Now let me be very clear here, influencers are certainly influential in what we do, and they raise us up to be better, whereas someone can be influential and not be an influencer.  Have I got you totally messed up now?   That’s me being influential  😊

Let’s fast forward to today…Leadership has taken on a different look and it is interesting that in order for the leadership of today to be satisfied, they typically need to be the ones that make the change. Even though they are not always the first to see it that way.  We hear over and over how leaders can’t get their teams, staff, employees or whatever title they use within their system to buy into the vision or the goals.  Staff turnover is high, as today’s employees have realized the importance of being happy and fulfilled both personally and in their careers.  When we interview people regarding what it would take for them to be excited about what they do, the most common responses are:

To be appreciated

To be listened to

To have the ability to have a say

To be able to take some ownership…not necessarily in a true definition of ownership, but in the creation of projects.

All of these things put a different spin on the whole leader/employee relationship.  As leaders our teams need to be just that…part of a team of people who build something together, who collaborate and brainstorm and challenge each other.  

Here is something that you will be able to easily grasp.  Go back to either your childhood or if you have children you won’t have to go back as far.  Kids are sitting on the floor in the middle of a room with a stack of lego’s.  Scenario one is one dominating child flat out telling the other children what to do, and likely not nicely.  How do the others react?  Do some push back, while others just get up and leave?

Scenario two…same lego’s different children.  They work together to build a very cool city.  Maybe a couple work on a building together, while another, on his own designs the city hall, while yet another group builds the school.  If you close your eyes and visualize this, what do you feel when you enact each group in your head? If you are like most people, the first will give you anxiety and the second will instill a smile and happy feelings.

Leaders that get this have teams that succeed at a high level, think about what they could do to better the results so that everyone experiences success and then they celebrate together as well as fail and learn together.

Last week I introduced 3 ways to improve your level of influence.  I want to add a couple more to your arsenal.

Number 1 – Be a role model.  We all want to be better and having someone to look up to or better yet being that person that demonstrates those attributes that others admire is a fantastic goal.

Number 2- Be purposeful about how you want people to think.  We need to reinforce our needs and wants using positive leadership language and engaging the people around us.

Number 3 – People love to be challenged.  Today’s challenge is yesterday's dare.  Challenge people to do things that will encourage growth in their relationships, their careers and their self worth.

I challenge you to think about this topic and ask yourself, am I a positive influence or am I more of the dictator leadership style.  How can you improve your leadership efforts and what changes would you need to make?  Are your employees excited and engaged in the work that they are doing? Do they feel that their voices are heard and their opinions taken into consideration as decisions are being made?

These are all questions that we need to ask ourselves as leading people is a privilege not a right and it is one to be taken seriously as the outcome can be so amazing or so detrimental to both the person and the project.

I hope this has been helpful and given you some new ideas.  We would love it if you would share this with 3 friends that have the same mindset as yourself and want to reach high levels of achievement, and of course hit that like button.

If you want to take your life and your career to a new level I invite you to take part in a free 1:1 strategy session with a High Performance Coach.  Just click below and select a time convenient for you.

As you go through your week remember…it is your choice to focus forward.

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