Expand Your Circle of Influence

FountainBlue's May 9 When She Speaks program, on the topic of 'Expand Your Circle of Influence'. Please join me in thanking our esteemed panelists.

This month's panelists represented a wide range of organizations, roles, backgrounds and perspectives, but they had much in common.

• They developed the relationships, connections and knowledge necessary to consistently deliver business results.

• As they advanced in their careers, they gained broader influence and provided wider impact, working with larger groups of people collaboratively to consistently deliver on requirements.

Below is a summary of their remarks and advice.

Be leaderly.

• Be courageous and bold and curious enough to keep learning and growing.

• Influence with intention by looking at the bigger picture and seeing how the pieces fit together so you can influence the individual pieces while impacting the greater whole ... and vice versa.

• Find your voice, your own strategy for processing information and being heard. 

• Remain resilient and aligned on the corporate, product, and team goals, and empower and enable your people to work for that common purpose, within prescribed parameters and guardrails to ensure compliance with requirements.

Build Deep Relationships 

• Work with a wide range of people with different backgrounds and program-manage across groups so that all can successfully collaborate to deliver results.

• Build broad and deep relationships of trust, enabling a network of interdependent stakeholders to succeed.

Manage and Lead Well

• Be clear about why and when and how things need to be done, and speak in a way which resonates with the target audience.

• Invite input and participation from a diverse range of invested stakeholders.

• Be open to a wide range of options for delivering intended results. With that said, don't let the 'armchair quarterbacks' too heavily influence an approved plan.

• Be clear on the guardrails required for successful implementation and use your influence to help ensure everyone works within those parameters.

• There are times when coercive influence is necessary, but it's rarely a good long term solution.

• Adopt a listening mode so that you understand what is needed. The direct requests are often not what they seem to be.

• Factor in how someone or something is perceived by specific audiences if you want to shift their perspective, their actions, etc., 

• Invite escalation protocols when they are warranted, especially if quality or customer satisfaction may be at risk.

The bottom line is that the ability to influence is only granted to those who keep wielding that power well, to deliver results that matter to the stakeholders involved. We are in debt to our influential panel for sharing their wisdom at this afternoon's panel.