Effective Leadership Principles for the Younger Generation: Influence

Calling all aspiring leaders! This is a blog you’ll want to read!

In this series of posts I will be discussing effective leadership principles for the Younger Generation, principles I wish I had known about or learnt when I was starting out on my leadership journey. No matter your style, niche or scale, these principles will form the foundation of your leadership behaviours. In this series I will be covering the following principles explaining why it’s important, how you develop in this area and what you can do to start now: Communication, Authenticity, Influence, Decision Making and Behavioural Accountability.

The next principle I want to explore is influence. If you didn’t know, then this is a gem that I want to share with you. You’ll do well to remember it:

Influence is the currency of leadership

JT

Why?

Today, my ability to influence others allows me to move people and actions in a positive direction. This however, was not always the case. Early on in my leadership journey I struggled to ‘get’ people to do what I wanted. I would often tell people to do something to no avail. As time went on I continued to struggle, but also continued to learn and adapt. I was developing, and still am today, my ability to influence others through two key principles.

By demonstrating these two principles I was able to influence more and more people for a positive mutual result. This enabled me to:

• See greater success
• Greater happiness
• Less friction/ resistance
• Increase position of influence
• Increased respect from others (both older and younger)
• And more

How?

Influence is not something that just is magically formed. It is something that is developed and earned through two key principles. These principles are trust and connections.

To keep it simple and short, if you have a great connection with somebody and high levels of mutual trust, you will be able to positively influence them. The reason I say positively influence is because you are a leader and want to become a great leader so your aim is to influence for a positive mutual outcome, not manipulate for a personal outcome because that is also possible. The ethical choice is however, yours to make.

What?

What should you do right now to increase your levels of influence? Focus on building strong connections and build high levels of trust with people. The currency which is influence will follow very quickly!

I go into greater detail in my book on how to develop influence quickly (click the image link below). Now the real question is, are you willing to learn more to become a better leader or not?

Thank you for reading, JT.