Competency Center
Building & Maintaining Influence
Key Takeaways
• Successful business leaders are “masters of influence.” They know how to motivate others to
accomplish objectives despite having no actual
authority to do so (Potter-Brotman, 1988).
• In the absence of authority, influence is acquired
through reciprocity: the idea that people should
be paid back for what they do.
• “Reciprocity is the basic principle behind all organizational transactions.” Most people do not
realize the extent to which they can influence
others through “mutually beneficial exchanges.”
• The distinction between influence and manipulation can be very narrow and vague.
• Gaining influence without authority is essentially
an act of self-empowerment.
• Self-empowerment relies on an awareness of the
“interdependencies that exist in the workplace.” It
depends upon an ability to create win-win interactions based on these interdependent relationships.
• It requires an ability to understand the perspective of others (Bartlett, 1992).
Executive Summary
“The key to successful leadership today is influence, not authority” (Kaufmann, 2010). Authority
suggests position or rank and confers right or obligation, not necessarily power or influence. Indeed,
great decisions mean nothing without the power to
implement them (Bies, 1992). Influence is a measure
of power, and true power lies in the ability to effect
change, to shape ideas, and to galvanize people to
work toward a common goal. In this respect, influ-
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April 2011
ence can be seen either as a commodity that can be
purchased or traded, or as a natural outgrowth of
relationships built upon mutual respect and trust.
In any organization, influence runs along a continuum
of calculation and desire. At one extreme are those
who have no influence and do not aspire to gain
any. Though increasingly rare, these are the people
who come to work, do their jobs, ask no questions,
and go home. At the other extreme are those who
deliberately plot to gain influence by currying favor,
networking, signing on for high-visibility projects
that will bring them instant recognition, etc. – all in an
effort to advance their careers or improve their position in the workplace. In between are those who gain
influence through the quality of their work or extent
of their expertise, by the breadth of their thinking or
the impact of their questions, by their generosity of
spirit and abundance of energy, or by their ability to
empower people to feel good about themselves.
Business leaders today must strive to understand this
dynamic, regardless of whether they are in positions
of formal authority. Leaders are increasingly asked
to oversee a more lateral and complex corporate
structure characterized by partnerships and alliances, virtual teams, and outsourcing, the faces of
which they may never know. In such an environment,
the ability to get things done through other people
counts as one of a manager’s “most essential skills,
and it comprises a constellation of capabilities – from
networking and coalition building to persuading and
negotiating” (“Exerting influence,” 2008). In effect,
managers must know how to develop “the organizational equivalent of ‘trade routes’ to get things done.”
It is in this context that “informal networks of mutual
influence are needed” (Cohen, 1989).
Competency Center
Building &
Maintaining Influence
priorities, or their alliances. Along those same lines,
disingenuous attempts to curry favor will ultimately
be counterproductive. People do not respect or wish
to follow anyone who tries to manipulate them. Sincerity and transparency are the bywords here.
Techniques for Development
Though often framed in terms of seeking power or
building interdependencies, true and lasting influence
may be more subtle than such simple bromides would
indicate. There is little doubt that calculated efforts to
win favor can be effective, but they can be counterproductive in the long run. True and lasting influence is
more a function of common courtesies and a sincere
interest in others. It is a function of taking the time to
know what is important in people’s lives, understanding the fundamental values that drive them, listening
to their ideas and acknowledging their worth, extending to them the same kind of concern for their welfare
as one would expect for himself or herself.
In addition, the following practices have been cited
as obstacles to securing influence in the workplace:
• Isolation from other groups, which can lead to a
kind of parochialism that inhibits establishing any
meaningful influence.
• A lack of understanding about what other people
experience or value quickly diminishes any
chance for gaining influence.
• Influence fades when expectations of reciprocity
are not met, or when the forms they take are not
equivalent (Cohen, 1998).
More specifically, the literature suggests the following strategies for gaining influence in the workplace:
• Create a broad network of professional relationships inside and outside the organization.
• Conflicting styles of social interaction can impede
development of influence. For example, an expectation of getting down to business right away can be
off-putting to someone who expects an exchange
of pleasantries beforehand (Cohen, 1998).
• Think of negotiation and persuasion in terms of
mutual benefit rather than manipulation.
• Solicit the opinions and perspectives of the people
whose support is depended upon.
• Applying an approach that works in one situation
to all succeeding situations will usually fail.
• Build a coalition of the people most affected by
an initiative, whose buy-in is crucial to success
(“Exerting,” 2008).
• Having a predetermined idea about the “right way
to do things” and imposing it on others is generally
not productive (“Exerting influence,” 2008).
• Be transparent about one’s motivations, and don’t
hesitate to “over-communicate.”
• Don’t pull rank (Dattner, 2009).
• Hidden agendas, misunderstanding about a project’s mission or goal, and inter-departmental
conflict or competition all undermine efforts to win
influence and bring about change (Oakley, 2007).
Obstacles
Individual Contributors
There is little doubt that the greatest obstacles to
building or maintaining influence are miscommunication, no communication at all, or making unwarranted
assumptions, especially about other people, their
Individuals gain influence by virtue of their ability
to understand what motivates people and, in turn,
their ability to engage them in accomplishing mutually beneficial goals. People who have influence
• Share credit with others.
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thus empower others to accept change, draw upon
strengths they didn’t know they had, and reach ends
they had not previously considered.
becomes the means by which “decisions get made
and results are produced” (“Influence,” 2009). To this
end, the literature offers a few valuable suggestions.
Such influence demands great people skills: the
ability to engage others in a meaningful way about
their interests, their relationships, their goals, and
their work. Those who have this skill converse freely
and openly, understanding intuitively the need for
others to be treated with fairness and respect. They
gain credibility by means of their intelligence, their
willingness to work hard, and their capacity to see
a project through to the end. They gain allegiance,
however, by means of their ability to make people
feel valued for who they are and what they do.
Managers must make sure employees understand
how important they are, and how much their work
is valued and their input is considered. Careers “get
derailed because of a lack of empathy and fundamental people skills” (Sethi, 2000). In that vein, it
is important to remember that it rarely works to
“ask people to do something differently until you
first acknowledge what they are already doing
well.” Managers with influence know firsthand that
“people don’t resist change so much as they resist
being changed” (Oakley, 2007).
“The front line of an organization has now become
its life-line” (Sethi, 1999). People who reside there
know what works and what does not. Managers
must take the time to listen to them. They are the
ones who understand the customers’ needs intuitively. They know the limitations and benefits of
every product and service the company offers.
They know what to expect from suppliers and distributors. It is their respect the manager must win.
Managers
Managers no longer work in a “command and control leadership” position. They cannot resort simply
to “I lead; you follow” directives and expect to get
anything done (“Exerting influence,” 2008). They
occupy an administrative middle ground, a kind
of netherworld of authority where they are asked
to oversee several people across an organization,
not necessarily in the same building or in the same
time zone. They represent and at times speak for
the company, but they do not necessarily have any
formal authority to make decisions themselves.
Successful leaders know the value of establishing
a positive chemistry among co-workers. One way
to do that is to provide conferences, seminars, and
company-sponsored social events for people to
get to know their peers in other parts of the organization (“Exerting influence,” 2008).
In such a model, having influence is essential. Without it, initiatives come and go without realizing any
benefit; responsibility for productivity and growth
is difficult to determine; creative ideas languish in
committee; and when change is needed, it takes too
long to effect. Managers have the uncomfortable
position of convincing stressed-out workers with
limited resources and overbooked schedules to add
one more “critical item” to their already full agendas.
“It takes genuine intentions, trust, credibility, and
a well-developed game plan in order to motivate
people to commit time, money, and resources to initiatives.” In other words, it takes influence. Influence
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In addition, leaders should not underestimate the
ability of workers to forge networking and mentoring relationships themselves, rather than try to
anticipate or predict their needs for them.
When faced with conflict or difficult co-workers,
managers should look for ways to create win-win
solutions. To that end, it is important for them to
avoid being judgmental or assuming that they
have all the answers. They should be open to
honest feedback and criticism and be willing to
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Building & Maintaining Influence
admit that they might be part of the problem, just
as they must be part of the solution. It is important,
too, to keep communication channels open. An
offer to talk should never have a date of expiration
(“Repair,” 2009).
Executives also gain valuable currency when they
empower their personnel by involving them in the
decision-making process. When workers more fully
understand the thinking behind a strategy or a decision – when they feel like contributors rather than
mere functionaries – they are more likely to embrace
the end result. When executives validate the work
of their employees by asking for and acting upon
honest feedback, they reap benefits that are farreaching and long-lasting, going well beyond the
project at hand (Sethi, 2000).
Executives
Business executives are in the unique position of
having authority, but not necessarily influence.
Certainly they have authority over organizational
structure and strategic decision-making, but the
actual execution of their plans is frequently in the
hands of personnel with whom they have little
direct contact. Understanding how they can gain
influence over the execution of decisions ultimately
becomes a measure of their effectiveness as leaders. In this respect, the literature offers the following
suggestions.
Finally, workers who feel that management is
invested in their growth and development are
more likely to reciprocate that investment with
a similar dedication to company goals. Executives gain influence when they provide learning
opportunities and clear paths to career advancement. In doing so, they demonstrate not only a
belief in the value of education, but also (and more
importantly) a belief in the workers themselves.
Ultimately, it sends a statement that the company
seeks employees who are lifelong learners, who
have creative ideas and the will to pursue them,
who are not afraid to make mistakes or try untested
waters, and who are likely to return to others what
they themselves have been given.
Executives must remain flexible. Successful influencers never lose sight of their objective, but are “willing
to be flexible about means” (Cohen, 1989). In that
same vein, they must understand the limits of their
control. The challenge is not how to control what
happens in every corner of the organization; it’s how
facilitate the finding of answers to questions and the
solutions to problems (Sethi, 2000). In addition, they
must learn to communicate. Perception is, indeed,
reality. Executives must be able to communicate a
vision and convince others of its value – to frame
goals and strategies in such a way that they become
believable and worth striving for.
Case Study
Just as Monica Ashley was completing a complex twoyear development project for Health Equipment and
Laboratories Inc. (Heal-Inc), she was removed as program manager by her boss, Dan Stella. Heal-Inc had
made its reputation by developing special-purpose,
“hospital-oriented, technically driven products and
strategies” inspired by brilliant in-house technicians,
but the market now demanded more user-friendly,
portable devices that could be deployed in doctors’
offices and store-front clinics. A more coordinated
team design and manufacture effort, likely involving
the cooperation of outside vendors, would be necessary to satisfy customer needs. Such changes would
Executives must acknowledge the efforts of personnel. It is important to recognize the hard work and
sacrifices that people make for the organization,
many of which go well beyond what could reasonably be expected. Similarly, executives must find
ways to celebrate and reward employee successes.
When plans come together, targets are reached, and
strategies are fulfilled, the people responsible should
be credited and included in the celebration.
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directly conflict with well-entrenched company
practices that valued individual initiative, maximum
freedom, a decentralized chain of command, and
independent research conducted in autonomous
units (Cohen, 2005).
In her own words: “I now see that the content of
what I was doing – the plans, strategies, decisions
– was the least important part. The most important (was) mobilizing support and resources. If the
content is wrong, you can always change it; but if
there is no support, you don’t have a foundation. I
was trying to work without a foundation under me”
(Cohen, 2005).
Initially, Ashley was hesitant to take on the assignment because she knew it would require butting
heads with a key manager, Ralph Parker, a forceful
and politically astute vice-president who personally
had designed the analog devices that now would be
replaced by more flexible digital units. However, she
was persuaded to lead the project by president and
founder Gary Door, who had been impressed when
she successfully challenged his conclusions in a staff
meeting (Cohen, 2005).
Related Resources
Influence without Authority
By Allan Cohen & David Bradford
http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true
&db=qbh&AN=16898540&site=ehost-live
Igniting the Third Factor
Lessons from a Lifetime of Working with Olympic
Athletes, Coaches and Business Leaders
By Peter Jensen
http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true
&db=qbh&AN=44102977&site=ehost-live
After months of study and interviews with prospective purchasers to determine how best to revamp
Heal-Inc’s product line to make it more viable,
Ashley decided to introduce the Taguchi method
of product development to Heal-Inc, which would
require “something that had never been done
before at Heal-Inc: a total system outline for the
product revisions, including all the elements and
how they would have to fit together.” What followed was a firestorm of emotionally charged
meetings, replete with accusations and personal
attacks between Ashley and Parker that left Gary
Door uncomfortable and stalled any real efforts for
change (Cohen, 2005).
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than people, process rather than relationships, and
had made assumptions about Parker without ever
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