Influence is critical for Executive Presence. Here are 5 key skills for strong influence:
One of my coaching clients asked me how to break down the skill of influencing and what differentiated OK, good, and great influencing.
Here’s my list:
Preparation. Before you set out to influence anyone, understand what others care about (telling you both what you need to address and what they might object to) as well as who is an ally who may join and support you.
Facts. Have your facts straight. Make sure they address what you learned in point 1. However, even good data does not always win.
Reputation. Your reputation matters a lot in how influential you can be. Think of it as your starting point in influence. A highly regarded scientist or author with a string of books, or a successful CEO all start with a better chance to influence than the random person on the street. You build your reputation over time by both your conduct and your track record.
Conduct. If you get mad, yell, gossip, or otherwise behave badly, you open yourself to being dismissed for who you are rather than the merits of your case. In Latin, an ad hominem attack.
Track Record. Have you been mostly right before? Do you do what you say and deliver what you promise? Then people will trust you when you speak.
Relationships. We listen to friends and family more than strangers. Teammates more than others at work. People we know and trust. If you want to be influential, again, you cultivate relationships with those you seek to influence. In a word, networking.
Persuasive Presentation. THIS is what most people think of when they think about influence. They start with how can they be powerful speakers or writers. But in fact, the point of this list is that steps 1 to 4 lay the groundwork. Do 1 to 4 well, and modest speaking will win the day. Do 1 to 4 badly and perhaps no amount of great talking will sway anyone.
A future post will break down what differentiates OK, good, and great influencing.
Audience Insights
Additional ideas worth considering from my LinkedIn audience:
To build on point 2 (Facts). Bad facts that are easily disproven will cost you support, but correct facts may not sway people in the face of emotion.
For example: A good plan that requires investment beyond the budget. You may have the facts on customer demand and ROI, but the person whose job it is to stay on budget for the year may remain unconvinced because the facts run against their needs. Worded another way, consider any political issue where you believe the answer is "obvious" but many other voters are not voting with you. We live in a world where it has become OK to consider "alternative" facts that support what the believer wishes to have supported. Similarly, consider advocacy of any particular diet or supplement.
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How to Break Through to Executive
If you want to learn how to get promoted to executive and the actionable specific standards by which executives are selected, consider my upcoming live online class on Maven — How to Break Through to Executive. One topic we dive deep into is “How to develop and demonstrate Executive Presence.”
Here is what Gagan Biyani (CEO and Co-Founder of Maven) said about the course:
Over 100 students have enrolled from Amazon, Google, Microsoft, Apple, Meta, Netflix, Visa, Mastercard, CapitalOne, Snowflake, Salesforce, Hubspot, Adobe, Coinbase, Uber, Pinterest, Snapchat, JPMorgan Chase, Johnson & Johnson, McDonald’s, Walmart, and more.
The first cohort starts December 9 (Saturday). All live sessions will have video recordings for you to watch/rewatch on Maven.
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Level Up is a newsletter from retired Amazon Vice President Ethan Evans that breaks down how he succeeded and how you can get to the next level.