Influencing Skills Training: Getting Results without Direct Authority

• Apply influence strategies to gain commitment from others and foster collaboration
• Define desired outcomes for win-win results
• Dynamically adjust your approach to others to gain buy-in
• Achieve goals by enhancing trust and cooperation
• Deal effectively with challenging behaviors to overcome resistance and inertia in others
• Use knowledge and competence rather than position and status to influence others

Defining Influence

• Identifying the three critical elements
• Building value with others
• Working with resistance for positive outcomes

The Elements of Influence

Five critical factors for influencing others

• Applying the five factors: capability, perceived value, perceived value realization, perceived cost, perceived risk
• Using an influence formula to guide your planning

Achieving and maintaining commitment

• Stating your desired results
• Going beyond compliance
• Creating collaboration

Recognizing manipulation and taking positive action

• Differentiating manipulation from influence
• Gaining an agreement you can count on

Building Your Foundation

Establishing and maintaining trust

• Creating trust-based relationships
• Maintaining ethics and integrity

Developing rapport

• Establishing immediate rapport
• Applying techniques for building rapport

Listening for multiple perspectives

• Building active-listening habits
• Tuning in rather than tuning out

Applying Six Major Influence Strategies

Identifying strengths and limitations

• Leveraging the advantages of each strategy
• Creating your personal plan
• Building and expanding your network
• Negotiating for desired results

Optimizing your personal preference

• Developing your most appropriate strategy
• Avoiding pitfalls and traps

Expanding Your Power Base

The six types of power

• Referent
• Information
• Expert
• Legitimate
• Reward
• Coercive
• Extending your personal power

Developing political know-how

• Navigating organizational politics
• Strengthening working relationships
• Adapting the way politics work according to cultural norms
• Identifying and applying political strategies effectively

Working with multiple perspectives

• Transforming resistance and inertia in others
• Adapting flexibly to influencing situations

Practicing Exemplary Leadership

Implementing five leadership practices

• Modeling the way
• Inspiring a shared vision
• Challenging the process
• Enabling others to act
• Encouraging the heart
• Adapting leadership approaches to your situation

Developing your personal leadership plan

• Assessing your leadership profile
• Strategies for cultivating your leadership skills
• Influencing a paradigm shift in others

Dealing with Challenging Behaviors

Recognizing the interplay of perceptions

• Managing the six chal
  RealityPlus
  An ongoing simulation throughout this course offers media-rich experiential activities that allow you to practice a variety of influence skills, tools and strategies. Activities include:
  • Uncovering your leadership capabilities
  • Assessing your use of influence strategies
  • Dealing effectively with resistance
  • Identifying different applications of power and typical outcomes through video simulations
  • Applying leadership and influence skills in a group setting
  • Assessing your political know-how
  • Using win-win approaches to persuade others to act
  • Building trusting relationships and rapport
  • Listening for multiple points of view
  • Getting commitment in challenging situations