Written by Steven Haines, CEO of Business Acumen Institute

In this article, I’ll share practical strategies to build influence, even without direct authority by focusing on strategic relationships and trust-building, you can strengthen your ties in your organization and become a credible resource who can rely on others when needed. My journey through corporate leadership has shown that influence isn’t about titles but about connection and purpose – a lesson I’m passing on for you to apply in your career.

When I was an aspiring leader, my bosses would suggest that I learn to influence others, especially those who did not work for me. You can relate to this because the gist of this reverberates in the corporate world as if just saying the words will motivate a person to just do it.  Well, as I’m sure you’re aware, it doesn’t work like this.  In the earlier part of my career, I was frustrated by the advice because I didn’t know what to do.   I remember a very early performance review, and when I asked my boss what to do, she basically said I should figure it out.  What I needed was some coaching and mentorship when I was “growing up” in the corporate world.

Many of you who know me and my approach to training emerging leaders is to go beyond the “what” to the “how.” However, I’m a work in progress, as are you, and my intent for this article is to provide a couple of suggestions for you to try as you traverse your business or managerial careers.

Let’s take a closer look at the intent for “influence.”  What does it really mean?  In complex, cross-functional organizations, influential skills are needed to move things forward, make decisions, and complete work that fulfills the strategic intent of one or more initiatives.  Today, brute force doesn’t cut it, nor does positional authority; it’s the art of influence… and this can be highly nuanced because you’re trying to shape perceptions of others. This is easier said than done since there are so many different personality types to deal with.

Consider this: Imagine being able to rally a cross-functional team behind your vision, to convince stakeholders to support an initiative, or to simply inspire colleagues to embrace a change – all without a single direct report.  This is the capability prized by executives and this is an area you may wish to focus on.

What’s The Story?

The ability to influence others is closely aligned with what’s needed to lead people and teams.   However, you can’t lead anyone if you don’t have something that people can collectively aim for.   Some say you need a vision. Others say a clear goal.  I like the idea of what Stephen M. R. Covey suggests: “begin with the end in mind.”

In business, any path to an endpoint is put into perspective when we know the route we’ve traveled and how we got to where we are now.  If you want to compose a storyline about how we got here, you will benefit if you bring others to the table to create that story.

Certainly, you can tell the story on your own, but you may not be able to convey the feelings and emotions needed to inspire others to form pictures in their minds.  It’s almost like forming a cross-functional team to write a book where everyone is collaboratively editing the content.  This way, they’re more likely to write the later chapters with you and come along for the ride.  Inspiring others to tell the same story can be a helpful tool for you.

Who’s Who?

As I alluded to, people in business require leadership. While you may not have full authority, you must build your credibility based on the work you do and your perceived expertise.  If you get people to write the “story” as I mentioned, you’re getting everyone to focus on common objectives.   Also, when others are involved and they see you as a person who’s done their homework (research and data-gathering, analyzing, and garnering insights), you may be a sought out advisor.   You may also be in a better position to ask for and receive assistance in a project or other endeavor.  This is also part of the elusive influence puzzle.

How people perceive you is one aspect. Another is how you engage with others, especially those at levels above you.  One of the things I learned in my career is that my peer-level relationships earned me the credibility I needed with them, but most took their direction from their bosses. It occurred to me that if I could form connections with their bosses, I might be able to share goings-on in my domain and learn more about theirs.  I use this “managing up and across” technique in my workshops to help managers and aspiring leaders network, become visible, and garner the political capital needed to engage and persuade.

Another technique you can use is something that product people and marketers use: the persona.  To create personas, you need to start with the organization chart.  This helps you to map relationships between you and others and between different people. When you understand this, who’s who, you can then begin venturing out and creating purposeful connections.  Make an appointment or just drop in to say hello, introduce yourself, and learn about the jobs of those different people and who they work with. What are the things that work for them and where are their problems? How might you help them to remove an obstacle or how might you, in some small way, contribute to their goals?  This relationship-building goes a long way. To mention Covey again, he suggested making deposits in the “emotional bank account” as a metaphor for the level of trust and goodwill of relationships.  He compares each positive interaction to an intentional deposit in a bank account.  However, he would advise minimizing withdrawals unless necessary to ensure that the bank account remains strong.  When you need help and you ask someone with whom you’ve developed a relationship for that help, you’re counting on what you’ve built up (deposits you’ve made).  That’s using your influence. But influence isn’t constant and persistent, and your ability to leverage it is transient.  Therefore, be vigilant and maintain these relationships – and your professional network.

Summary

To me, it’s about relationship building, whether it’s in understanding what people do, their issues or challenges, and opportunities to help.  In the business world, we research to understand customers and customer needs to identify and solve problems and deliver a unique value proposition.

Learning to influence others is a lot like this type of discovery.  And as I teach, you can’t do discovery in your office, you must be out and about, be seen as a reliable team player or leader, being an expert in your domain, and earning the trust of others.