Are you an effective influencer? Ask yourself these 5 questions.

Getting your ideas heard in a company is no easy feat. It essentially hinges on identifying exactly how a company works.

Is the company’s culture one where inclusion and innovation are encouraged, or is the culture one where existing biases and mindsets (“this is just the way we do things here”) reign supreme - thus making it hard for people’s ideas to be heard? In many cases, the key is recognizing that it’s not actually an either/or question.

Reality check: Company culture will never be perfect

In my 20+ years of experience working with organizations of all sizes, I’ve seen a lot of changes. Right now, there is a major emphasis on creating an inclusive and diverse work environment that supports innovation. However, the reality of complex human behavior shows us that people’s existing biases and belief systems will most likely always be at play.

And despite recent trends and progress towards increasing and managing self-awareness, company cultures will never be perfect or fully optimal for listening to new thoughts and ideas. What does this mean? It means that waiting for your company to become more inclusive or waiting for external forces to make it more comfortable for you to champion an idea is not a road to success in influencing.

So then what can you do to effectively influence change?

I think it’s best to start by turning the mirror on yourself and looking at what you can do differently to adapt and influence those around you more successfully.

No matter what the culture, you can move people in your direction

I’ve learned and recognized that influence starts with effectively communicating and interacting with others in a way that compels them to want to follow. Effective influence isn’t about having someone completely adopt your idea. It’s about learning and negotiating with one another so that you are able to move them in your direction of desired change.

Take for example the following scenario which may sound familiar to you. Tiffany just got transferred to a new team at a large demanding firm. She’s been promoted to supervisor and is tasked with improving poor team performance. She quickly realizes that the team is under-resourced for the work they are being asked to deliver and spread too thin across a diverse set of projects.  She needs to influence the steering committee for the key project to either provide more resources, reduce the scope of the project, and/ or stretch the timeline.

Put yourself in Tiffany’s shoes. How would you try and influence the steering committee to move in your direction? Where would you start? We recommend Tiffany begin with asking herself the following questions.

Influence key starter questions

1. Who is the key person you need to influence?
   Recognize and know your key stakeholder (the person that has influence power with others – the person whose buy-in will do your influence work for you). This person is where you start.
2. What do you know about the person you need to influence?
   It’s important to know who your stakeholder is and what they value. The more information you can gather about them, the better position you will be in to motivate them into your desired direction for influencing change.
3. Do you have credibility with the key person you’ve identified?
   If someone doesn’t trust you or believe you to be competent, they won’t listen to you or respond favorably to any desired change you are hoping for. Understanding your relationship and where you stand with your key stakeholder on these two factors (credibility and trust) will help you figure out what you need to do to gain influence momentum.
4. Have you identified how to “hook” your idea/ recommendation onto the point of view of your key stakeholder?
   We like to create change but we do not like to be changed! The art of “hooking” your idea onto the point of view of your stakeholder creates a feeling of common ground. It is as if the idea has actually come from your stakeholder.
5. How effective are you at storytelling and using metaphors?
   Speaking in a visual form and using simple metaphors to paint a compelling story for your key stakeholder will help Velcro your ideas to their brain. This increases the likelihood that they will want to listen to your ideas and possibly move toward them.

Once Tiffany has a chance to really think through these preliminary questions, she’ll be in much better shape to see how she can meaningfully influence. She can then focus on getting the necessary resources and decisions made to help increase team morale and productivity.