Influencing
Using effective involvement and persuasion strategies to gain acceptance of ideas and commitment to actions that support specific work outcomes.
Key Actions
• Clarifies the situation—Uses open-ended questions to explore current issues, identify important decision makers, and understand others’ goals, perspectives, and concerns; summarizes to ensure mutual understanding.
• Shares own perspective to build trust—Emphasizes the importance of reaching agreement and the benefits of involving others; discloses own goals, feelings, experiences, and insights at the appropriate time to encourage open discussion and build confidence in one’s intentions.
• Builds a compelling case—Clearly communicates the benefits of accepting the idea (for the individual, team, and organization); tailors the persuasion strategy to engage individuals emotionally and rationally; leverages supporting evidence to address anticipated objections; summarizes benefits to ensure understanding.
• Involves others in exploring solutions—Asks for others’ ideas and builds on their ideas to reach a mutually agreeable solution; seeks and respects alternative approaches and conflicting viewpoints to identify points of agreement.
• Empathizes with others’ concerns—Listens carefully when others express positive or negative emotions; identifies the facts and emotions expressed to help others feel understood, overcome resistance, and build relationships.
• Steers commitment to action—Gauges the other person’s readiness to commit to action; checks for common understanding of next steps, responsibilities, time frames, and tracking methods; offers time, support, and resources.