The how of influence

“The most effective way to get people truly committed is to appeal to their values, ideals or emotions”

Influence might be an art, but the science helps. Researchers have come up with nine tactics that people actually use in the workplace. Some of these are ‘hard’ tactics. They get the leader’s ideas into action, but don’t invite others for input. This might be useful in an emergency or crisis. However, while they may seem slower at first, ‘soft’ tactics get people more involved, so have greater impact in the long term. Give these three key approaches a go:

RATIONAL PERSUASION

This has elements of hard and soft approaches: a direct request, backed up by facts and logical argument. It doesn’t work as well if you lack power or authority. You might try saying: ‘Given what our competitors are doing, the facts suggest three reasons for moving ahead with this project.’

CONSULTATION

The aim here is to pull in others to suggest improvements or help plan a project. It is sometimes known as participative leadership, building on ideas that might not have come from the leader. You might say: ‘My suggestion is we do X, Y and Z. What would you suggest?’ Or: ‘In your opinion, what would be the advantages and disadvantages of doing nothing?’

INSPIRATIONAL APPEAL

The most effective way to get people truly committed is to appeal to their values, ideals or emotions. You might say: ‘I’d like your support on this because you care about both business performance and our impact on the environment,’ for example.

FURTHER READING

When Execution Isn’t Enough: Decoding Inspirational Leadership by Claudio Feser (Wiley, £22.99)