This blog will tell you a concrete method to increase your influence as a leader. Motivational speaker, leadership coach and businessman Tony Robbins said in 2019 that leadership is about influence over others. The greatest leaders throughout history have been so well known because of their ability to influence others. Influence is developed through connections. Managers often find it difficult to influence their team because there is no connection. I remember a time on a previous project where a new manager struggled to get members of our team to listen and act of instructions because “they will not listen.” This is because there was no connection. I have experienced many managers going through this same problem over the years. Going through the same cycle of failure without learning and adapting.
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Building connections as a leader is vital. Dale Carnegie & Associates in the book How to Win Friends and Influence People in the Digital Age, said that we should “focus on connecting, not campaigning.” Picture a presidential candidate doing a ‘campaign’ tour of the United States of America. “Let’s make America great again” was first used by Ronald Reagan in his 1980 presidential campaign, when the United States was suffering from a struggling and worsening economy. Reagan carried 44 states and received 489 electoral votes to win the election. Reagan won 50.7% majority vote. The slogan he used was not just a slogan. It was designed to allow him to connect to the people. His party understood that Americans were fed up and together they could make a difference. He won. Donald Trump in 2016 did something very similar. He used the slogan “Make America Great Again.” He also won.
There are three behaviours which can make you become more of a leader through building connections:
- Genuine interest
- Open format conversations
- Empathy
People want to be made to feel like they are the most important person in the world. As of when I am writing this book there are 7.15 billion people in the world. By 2025, the United Nations predicts there will be 8.1 billion people in the world. By 2050, the United Nations predicts there will be close to 10 billion people in the world. That is a lot of people. Harminder Toor, business owner and blogger, questions why people feel lonely. He questions that it could be because they never learnt how to connect with themselves. We sit on the train next to a different person every day. We work with hundreds of different people over our life time and meet thousands more. How often do we spend the time to connect with that person? Rarely. This is why connecting to someone and being genuinely interested in them can change their state from lonely to needed. Genuine interest in a person makes them feel comfortable, considered and connected, Increase your ability to influence others by being genuinely interested in them.
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Building relationships is probably one of the most important aspects of being a leader. John. F. Kennedy, the 35th President of the United States of America, shows the importance of this in arguably his most important action as the President. During the Cuban missile crisis in 1962, known by many as potentially a defining moment in World War II, John. F. Kennedy managed this situation tactfully. Many of his military advisors were pushing for the United States to bomb the Soviet controlled missile pads stationed in Cuba. Instead, Kennedy ordered a blockade of the Soviet ships which led to negotiations. Kennedy orchestrated a peaceful negotiation which eased the relationship tensions between the United States and Russia. Kennedy chose to build the relationship rather than take an aggressive approach.
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How to reference this page
- Toor, J. (2019). How to increase leadership influence, part one? Available at: https://pmgrowth.co/how-to-increase-leadership-influence,-part-one?/
Inspirations
- Tony Robbins
- Harminder Toor
- Dale Carnegie & Associates in the book How to Win Friends and Influence People in the Digital Age
- John F Kennedy, the 35th President of the United States of America