Four ways to improve your influence (Part 1)

We are all in the business of influence – but instead of seeing it as manipulation, Dr. Tim Baker outlines how influence, when used ethically, can be an essential business tool

Four ways to improve your influence (Part 1)

Business strategy

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INFLUENCE IS the lifeblood of business, especially for insurance brokers, who must influence the many stakeholders they deal with on a daily basis. However, the word influence means many things to many people. To some, it means being cunning, manipulative and tricky. Others see influence as ethical and open.

In my view, influence is the power to make other people agree with your opinions or get them to do what you want willingly and ethically. The key words here are ‘willingly’ and ‘ethically.’ Sustainable influence is not an exercise in manipulation and trickery.

In the context of sales, marketing and professional advice – areas that brokers regularly work in – influence is, more often than not, about persuading others to think and act in ways that benefit themselves and their circumstances. People make up their own minds, but they do so on the basis of how they are influenced. This is why influencing must be done from an ethical standpoint.

My new model of influencing, the Influencing Capabilities Framework, illustrated on the opposite page, identifies four primary ways that leaders can and do influence others. You will notice two styles – push and pull. The push style is more assertive, direct and upfront, while the pull style is more collaborative, indirect and subtle. Both are effective in the right place, at the right time, with the right people. The two approaches are logical and emotional. The logical approach is based on fact, rationale, structure and clarity, whereas the emotional approach is based on inspiration, possibility and the ‘big picture.’ Again, both approaches work in the right circumstances.

So we end up with four distinct strategies: investigation, calculation, collaboration and motivation. Which one do you favor?

Investigation
As a strategy of influence, investigation basically means gathering the facts and presenting them in a logical and convincing manner. The presentation of a coherent and assertive argument based on well-founded research is a powerful form of persuasion in the right set of circumstances.

People usually are not convinced by someone who does not have a sound grasp of the facts, nor are they influenced by someone with wavering conviction or an incoherent presentation of his or her ideas. Then again, even if you are logical, coherent, assertive and well-researched, that doesn’t necessarily guarantee that you will be persuasive. But these attributes are at least a good starting point.

Brokers who have a preference for investigating like to search for supporting evidence and, from this data, generate hypotheses or ideas based on a logical, rational argument. Once investigators have prepared a well-founded case, they assert their ideas to others.

Being well-prepared, investigators are typically on solid ground to oppose others’ arguments. In other words, an investigator’s influencing ability is reliant on a carefully researched and assertively communicated case. Climate change campaigner and former US vice president Al Gore is an example of an investigator.

(to be continued...)

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