The Impact of Influence - A Primer for All New Leaders

Sa foreign. How. How much influence this stuff actually has on us. So the power of influence, again, it is undeniable. We experience it every day. What's the point in this whole thing? Some of this influence is used for not so good things. Some of this influence can be used for very good things. As rising leaders, how do we want to use this influence to grow our employees? How else do we want to use this influence that you have, whether you realize it or not, Help your organization out. What else? For your customers, what else? You can be selfish if you want. Let's be honest about this. Why do you want to use this influence? Personal growth for yourself. So we've got to understand we have to master it because it will take master over us. And we're influencing no matter what. But understanding what drives people matters. The more I know what's important to Colson. You think he clings to me more? Of course he does. If you have kids, same thing. The more you know what drives them and you help them achieve that, the more they cling to you, do they not? The power of influence is undeniable. I mean, let's think about this. If you were little kids and I kept saying over and over and over that the blue circle is bigger, eventually it becomes your reality, does it not? Let's think about that now. You get to a certain point, you measure them, and you'll realize that it's there, that they're the exact same size. And if all of you thought that you would all end up, it would be part of your culture, I would influence your culture. And then if you told your kids about it, if you have kids, it becomes part of the generation. Think about the power of influence that all of us have. If I influence you the right way, you naturally follow my lead and you start influencing other people the right way. When you see that dynamic happen because you're intentional about the way you're influencing other people, it is a freaking game changer. In any organization, in any family unit, in any friend unit, on any team, it doesn't matter. The dynamic, it naturally starts to occur. If you try to force this piece of it, it doesn't work long term because as soon as the coach is gone, the parent is gone, what happens? Everybody's back to doing what they were doing. Every interaction you have with the barista down the street, with the person at the rental car counter, with your customer that comes in, you're leaving some type of impression on that person. The more you see the person, you have more or less influence with that person, the more you see somebody, you have more or less influence with them. When we went home, did we feel disconnected at times? Now, I'm not for or against. That's not the issue here. But what we realized is if we're disconnected from people, the further we are away from people, do we have less influence or more influence on them? So we have to be more intentional about the influence as rising leaders to make sure we can get them to do what we need them to do. So the whole idea of modeling, right. So if we think about the power of influence and the levels of influence that we have with people, you can think about it in terms of steps or steps up a ladder. Rungs of a ladder, Right. The further up the ladder you go with people, actually, the more influence you have on them. Does that make sense? How many of you actually want the best from your team? We all do, do we not? Guess what, it's the wrong motivation. What should we want the best for our team? Why? When they do better, they naturally give. Some will say that that's manipulation. I don't believe that is. I believe when we're trying to influence somebody to do what we want them to do versus trying to help somebody become a better version of who they are so that they choose to give which one lasts. The influential part, where you want the best for, or the manipulation part, where we want the best from. Influence works in all directions. Getting to know what's important to your boss, the bank president, whatever it might be, is the same thing. Helping them achieve what's important to them is the same thing. The workforce has changed, right? Let's think about it. What you value, what you value, what I value is probably very different. Is that a bad thing? Probably not. But we got to figure out how to work together. We've got to figure out how that influence goes both ways. And then the last thing, A lot of options have changed choices. What people are looking for in organizations has changed. Yes. Money is still important. We all know that. How many is money important for in this room? Don't lie to me. We all have to make a living. Do we not have to pay our bills, raise our kids, do all those things? It's still important. It's about using and teaching them a process. Because the level of influence I now have with my kids, because I want the best for them, If I just wanted the best from them, what would I do? Solve their problem for them, which is a tendency of so many parents. And I'm using that as an example. It's the Same thing we do in the office. The same thing we do with our friends. Same. The same thing we do with our parents when they're older. It's all the same. They get to a certain age and you have to solve some of their problems for them. I get it. Right. But let's think about the level of influence we have if we want to go up the rung here. Modeling first. Right? It's about them, not about us. That motivation or inspiration. It's about helping them define it for themselves first and then helping them achieve it by letting them do the work. They figure out the goal, they. They figure out the reality. They figure out the obstacles that are in the way and what they need to do. And then when they come to you with a problem, do you solve the problem for them? No. Teach them how to solve the problem. And even if you have to in the end solve the problem, keep going through a process that helps them, they will start solving their own problems. What does that do to their confidence? Who do they attribute it? Even if they don't think about it intentionally, who do they attribute that boost in confidence to? Oh, my gosh. Think about the impact it has on your team. Think about this for a second. Are you fun? Are you patient? Do you show that you care? Are you supportive of the other person? Are you resilient if that's the case? Or do you come in and you're a little different than that? And what happens when you're a little different than that? What's the influence that you have on them now? Positive or negative? In some instances we know it's negative. Right. But we have to understand that the people that have influenced us are how we best influence other people, because they're all very similar. We'll see it play out here in just a second. We've got to take note of that. The reaction that you can see it in them if you have influence or not. Even if you just met somebody for the first time, generally people struggle with. With identifying what's important to them. So the whole purpose conversation. I don't know what my purpose is. Look, don't make it so freaking difficult. Your purpose may be to be a breadwinner, to. To take your family to Disney every year. I don't care what it is, but most people don't know what it is. If you help them define it, what happens to your level of relationship and influence? Because you cared enough to ask the question, it increases a ton. Then if you help them achieve some of that, what happens to your influence? With them, it goes up huge. When you walk out of the room and you've asked them to do something at that particular point, do you think they're more likely to do it? Oh, my gosh.