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by Phil Eastman
Influence is the
most valuable quality a leader can demonstrate.
Influence is far more valuable than any position,
authority, or ownership. Influence is the key to
moving a group of people toward a common goal
or mission. Without it neither leader nor
organization will have lasting success.
What is influence? It is the power one
person
grants to another based on trust. The very
nature of influence is not necessarily tied to the
structure and roles of the organization. We
have all seen and experienced leaders with
important organizational positions that have
very little real influence over their people.
Leaders may have the authority to act in the
organization but may not have the influence to
get action in ways meaningful to strategic
progress. We have also seen business owners
who think that their ownership is the ultimate
authority in the organization. After all, owners
have rights afforded only to them; they elect
boards that then select management to build
wealth for the owner. However, I have seen
many times when even the owners lack the
influence necessary to move an organization
forward.
I have first hand experience with influence as a
consultant. In the strategic and leadership
development work I do with people in
organizations, I have no legitimate authority. In
other words, I have no positional authority, no
special writ that allows me control over the
people I work with. Yet, because I have
influence, I do get people to follow my lead.
Now before you react to the egotistical tone of
that last sentence let me clarify. I have
influence not because of some special skill of my
own but because the people I work with give it
to me, they allow me to have influence over
them because they can trust me.
The reality is that unlike position and authority
(which is granted to the leader by those
above),
influence can be granted to us by anyone in the
organization but the most important group to
acquire influence from are those that you must
lead. In other words leaders don’t get influence
from the top of the organization they get
influence from those they lead and that is what
makes influence so delicate and yet so
powerful. Put another way, influence is the
informal authority granted by followers to those
they trust to lead them.
In workshops on this subject, I often
demonstrate influence by having people reflect
on an individual that has had a profound positive
influence on their life. I ask them to
contemplate that person, why they did what
they did and how it made them feel both then
and now. Typically when they have finished this
exercise they will recall a parent, teacher, coach,
friend, boss or co-worker. What is interesting is,
many times the person they considered is no
longer living, which means that influence
(both
positive and negative) transcends both time
and
space.
For this reason alone, it is the most powerful
leadership quality. With it you will deliver the
organization’s strategic objectives and make a
powerful difference in the lives of the people you
work with. Without it you will have neither long-
term strategic success nor personal
satisfaction.
If influence is so critical
then
how do leaders get it? There is an excellent
book on the subject by Blaine Lee called
The
Power Principle: Influence with Honor,
he
describes the characteristics of a person with
influence. Without reviewing his entire text here
let’s suffice to say developing influence means
three things. First, you must care deeply for the
people you wish to gain influence from. Second,
you must treat them equitably. This means
consistent behaviors that both value and
challenge people to be and do their best. Third,
you must have integrity. Integrity being defined
as consistency of thoughts, words, feelings and
actions or to coin an overused phrase “you
must walk-the-talk.” I should also
comment that integrity as I have described it
does not mean perfection. No one is perfect and
gets it right all the time but what people of
influence do have is the willingness and ability
to see when they are off track and to be righted
either by their own conscience or by the nudging
of those around them.
So to be an influential leader, care for those you
are leading, treat people equitably and maintain
your integrity. Now those three points were
easy enough to write and read but the brutal
reality is that developing influential leadership is
a life-long pursuit and consequently is best
begun now.
Phil Eastman, a partner in the
Boise-based consulting firm, Leadership Advisors
Group, helps clients enhance their leadership
effectiveness. He combines more than 20 years
of leadership experience with his passion for
consulting, coaching and teaching to help people
grow personally, build teams, and improve
performance.
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