how to influence others at work

Political skills for leaders are skills that are essential for anyone who wants to be more effective in influencing others. Building agreement, alignment and alliances with businesses enable you to deliver significantly more – which helps you, your team, and the overall business.

 Political skills in management start with yourself and developing personal skills. We cover self-awareness, self-control and being proactive which are all very important skills when thinking about how to influence others at work. 

 Influencing others  is not an underhand activity, or about manipulation. Being honest and sincere is a critical part of how to influence others as a leader. Other important interpersonal skills include listening, thinking before speaking, being curious and managing upwards well. 

 Being good at reading people and situation is very important in management and doubly so when influencing others and using political skills for leaders. Less than 10% of communication is in the words being said. 

 Political skills for leaders is also about building alignment and alliances between leadership team members and those in the various management layers. When you have leaders and managers aligned, you have massively better chance of delivering on your project or activity as everyone is support rather than pursuing their agendas and moving in different directions. 

 When influencing others, it is important to keep in mind the strategic direction and goals of the business and team. This keeps you on track and moving everyone in a consistent direction which produces better results. 

 You can get so much more done within a business when you are able to use political skills in management positions. 

 Even if you are not yet in management positions, you can use political skills when managing stakeholder and those you rely on and report to. Doing a better job and achieving more will move your career progress forward faster. 

 Enjoy practicing your skills!

If you want to enter the management ranks and progress, a big part of your future success will depend on you learning how to influence others at work, how to influence your manager and potentially how to influence the leadership team.

 Unfortunately, just having an opinion doesn’t count for much – everyone has an opinion. To influence others at work, you need to back up your opinion with evidence that your opinion will lead to improvements or better outcomes. 

 Putting yourself in the other person’s shoes is a critical first step when using influencing skills. This gives you insight into how to position your proposal in a way that helps them. 

 Most people understand that trust is a key factor to influence your manager and to influence your stakeholders. Without trust, most other influencing tactics fall flat. Likability and professional competence go a lot way to build trust and significantly increasing your ability to influence others at work. 

 “How to Influence Your Manager & The Leadership Team” details 9 tactics that teach you how to increase your influence at work and 3 communication factors that will further improve your influence. 

 If you are thinking about how to influence without authority at work, then a 

give before you take approach - spotting opportunities to help others and building up a “favour bank” can work wonders. 

 I also cover 4 other key influencing tactics which add weight to your opinion and I have successfully used a lot to influence my manager and many others over the years. 

 Building your influencing skills is critical to progressing your career through the management ranks and into leadership positions whatever business you work in. 

 Try out each of the tactics in “How to Influence Your Manager & The Leadership Team” and practice them regularly. You will end up using these tactics naturally and you influence at work will only increase.