Tag Archives: needs

Use influence to reel in success

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Influence allows you to impact results through your interactions with other people. Although you can’t control the outcome completely, you can increase the probability of achieving the impact you desire by how you network, communicate and find common ground with other people.

A powerful metaphor for influence is sport fishing. How is it that you can use a 50-pound line to land a 250 pound fish?

Be patient. Know where you want to end up, but manage your expectations along the way.

Be aware. Influence and manage the other people on the boat – the other people who can affect the situation.

Control yourself. Check your ego and your need to win.

Be purposeful. Be intense, but don’t make rash choices; consider the impact of your actions.

Know your fish. What are the characteristics of others involved? What choices are they making right now?

Be the fish. Don’t focus on you and your needs; get in the heads of the others involved.

Adjust as you learn. Your desired outcomes and your actions may need to change to create the right results for everyone.

Work within the parameters of the line. What are your limits and abilities? What do others want? What can they contribute?

Reel it in. Don’t ease up just because things seem to be going well. Follow through with 100% of the discipline you had when you started.

Use your influence to reel in the big fish and contribute to the greater good. Remember the words of Jackie Robinson: “A life isn’t significant except for its influence on other lives.”

 


Ask the right questions at the right time

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Your once-well-oiled machine of a team is experiencing strife. Some people seem to be spending more time whining than doing their jobs. A high-priority project is behind schedule and over budget. What questions do you ask to understand what’s really going on?

You’re first instinct may be to ask, “What isn’t working?” If you’re really at the end of your rope, you won’t be that polite.”What in the HECK is WRONG with you people?!” As frustrated as you may be, don’t focus on the negative right away. This will put people on the defensive and may deteriorate into a blame game. You will end up wasting time and will probably miss some incredible strengths that could be put to use to solve the current problem.

Begin with this question: “What’s working and why?” Here’s where you uncover the brilliance – and regain a balanced perspective. It isn’t all broken, and some things are going great.

Then, ask: “What is the need we are trying to address?” This will get people zeroing in on their purpose and goals. Be very clear about exactly what you’re trying to achieve, why it’s important and the desired results and impact.

Next, ask: “What do we need to start doing to get there?” You’ll find that there are some best practices that were never shared or have fallen by they wayside. Build on what’s working to address the gap between the need and current performance.

Only then should you delve into “What’s not working?” Figure out the behaviors that need to stop in order to remove barriers to success. Often the previous questions will have addressed some of the gaps with an eye to constructive resolution, so this conversation may be very brief.

When there is a problem, focusing first on the negative keeps you trapped in the past and may encourage you to throw in the towel too early. While it’s important to learn from what went wrong, the real power for change lies in what is going well. It takes courage and talent to overcome adversity. You’ll uncover more of both when you uncover strengths you didn’t know existed.

 

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Photo courtesy of Chris Baker on stock.xchng. See more of his photos at his website.