Influencing skills for leaders
The ability to influence others is an essential skill for leaders, especially in today’s business world. Having the word ‘manager’ or ‘leader’ in your job title doesn’t carry the same weight of formal authority that it used to.
Organisations are seeking for leaders who don’t just get the job done, but also build employee engagement and provide strategic leadership that motivates people to play their part in meeting organisational goals and objectives.
Many workers, especially Generation Y, are looking for leaders who can inspire them. To be one of the engaging and inspirational leaders that employers are looking for and employees will be loyal to in the future, now is the time to start or continue developing your influencing skills.
Influence is the ability to change the course of somebody else’s actions, beliefs or opinions. It is about having a vision of the best outcome for any situation or organisation and, without using of coercion or force, motivating people to work together towards making the vision a reality.
Influence includes being able to put your needs across in the most appealing, convincing and assertive manner that will get you the best possible result. While a directive approach may get people to get on with the job immediately, the impact is often short-lived.
Successful leaders know that to earn a long-term commitment from others, they must be able to influence.
Successful influencing is:
- getting a result that meets the legitimate needs of both or many parties
- achieving results that have an impact and will stick over time
- improving, or at least not damaging, the relationship between the people involved.
Influencing is not:
- forcing others to accept your point of view
- continuously nagging other until they agree
- bargaining
- giving in to someone else’s view even when you believe they are wrong
- a debate.
Our course range and content is frequently updated. Please contact us online or phone 1300 704 787 to speak with one of our learning and development consultants if you would like assistance with choosing the right course or require specific content to be covered in your training.
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