Training Industry Magazine - Leadership 2015 Special Edition - (Page 9)
2. Leaders lack a clear influence plan. Many
leaders who had previously stumbled into
success at influencing behavior change
couldn't articulate why their efforts
succeeded. Even worse, the study showed
that while most executives were frustrated
with many behaviors in their organizations,
only one in 20 had a carefully developed
plan for influencing change. When leaders
were asked to describe their approach to
influencing rapid and sustainable behavior
change, most had almost nothing to say.
3. Leaders confuse talking with influencing.
Many leaders think influence consists of
little more than talking people into doing
things. It's no wonder most influence efforts
start with PowerPoint presentations. But
profound, persistent and overwhelming
problems demand more than verbal
persuasion. Leaders make this mistake
when they publish platitudes in the form of
mission and values statements, give a few
speeches on why these values are crucial
and then assume their job is done.
4. Leaders believe in silver bullets. When
leaders actually attempt to influence new
behavior, it's common for them to look for
quick fixes. The failure mode is to rely on any
single approach. Some host star-studded
retreats. Others hand out inspiring posters
and color-changing mugs and think people
will line up for change. The research shows
that when leaders rely on just one simple
source of influence to drive change, they
almost always fail.
5. Leaders try to influence everyone. There
are a few leaders who understand that
influence is their job. They may even put
a lot of time and energy into influencing
behavior, but they squander their limited
time and energy by trying to influence
everyone. The most influential leaders amass
a wealth of social capital by investing time
and energy with two influential groups -
their chain of command and their opinion
leaders. If leaders spent time building trust
with formal and informal opinion leaders,
they will inherit social capital that extends
their influence into every corner of the
organization.
CHANGING ENTRENCHED BAD HABITS
Although the overall failure rate for changing
entrenched habits was high, there are a handful
of leaders - less than one in 20 - with real
influence. These leaders had the skills to create
influence strategies that really worked. They
influenced profound change in behaviors rapidly
and permanently. Some described how changes
lasted for years, so long as they sustained their
influence efforts.
Below are a few of the most powerful strategies
influential leaders employed. You will be more
likely to turn entrenched bad habits into positive
work practices by using these strategies.
1. Choose two or three behaviors. Ironically,
one of the best ways to improve results is to
stop focusing exclusively on results. Effective
influencers target one or two vital behaviors
to bring about significant change.
2. Over-determine influence. Effective
influencers refuse the temptation to find the
"one easy answer." For example, unsuccessful
leaders rely on a heartfelt email to drive
change and mediocre leaders may deliver
a PowerPoint presentation explaining
what must change. By contrast, successful
influencers combine four or more sources of
influence to facilitate change.
3. Influence the influencers. Effective
influencers realize they don't have to have
personal relationships with everyone;
they just have to have relationships with
the opinion leaders who do. Less effective
leaders could think they're working with
opinion leaders when they're actually
working with people who look good to
management but are held in low esteem by
their peers.
WHEN LEADERS
RELY ON JUST
ONE SIMPLE
SOURCE OF
INFLUENCE TO
DRIVE CHANGE,
THEY ALMOST
ALWAYS FAIL.
4. Enlist the environment. Much of behavior
is influenced by our physical environment.
Smart influencers design the environment
to enable new behaviors and by doing so,
create an influence strategy that works
24/7. For example, one leader increased
accountability in her team by posting all
commitments made, kept and broken in the
team area. These small visual cues kept the
team focused on changing their behavior.
If your organization has found a way to tolerate
or simply live with entrenched bad habits, then
it's time you challenged these behaviors and
turned them into productive work practices. If
you don't, then this research suggests these bad
habits will continue indefinitely and produce
profoundly damaging results. By learning the
skills of influence, you will be on your way to
making change inevitable.
Joseph Grenny is co-founder of VitalSmarts and a
four-time New York Times bestselling author, dynamic
keynote speaker and leading social scientist for
business performance. Email Joseph.
TRAINING INDUSTRY MAGAZINE - LEADERSHIP2015 I SPECIAL EDITION I WWW.TRAININGINDUSTRY.COM/MAGAZINE
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Training Industry Magazine - Leadership 2015 Special Edition
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Training Industry Magazine - Leadership 2015 Special Edition
Perspectives on Leadership
Table of Contents
Infographic
A Leader's Guide to Influence
Frontline Managers as Leaders
Employee Engagement for a Distributed Workforce
Accelerating Leadership Development
Employee Engagement for a Distributed Workforce
Leaders Leading Leaders
Are You Creating a Training Course of Designing a Learning Experience
Developing Mid-Level Leaders
The Magic of Asking for Feedback
Leadership Development vs. Employee Engagement
Leading at a Higher Level
Competencies as We Know Them are Dead
Building Great Leadership Through Continuous Learning
Maximizing the ROI of e-Learning
The Difference between Leadership Development and Leadership Formation
What's Online
Company News
Training Industry Magazine - Leadership 2015 Special Edition - Cover1
Training Industry Magazine - Leadership 2015 Special Edition - Cover2
Training Industry Magazine - Leadership 2015 Special Edition - Perspectives on Leadership
Training Industry Magazine - Leadership 2015 Special Edition - Table of Contents
Training Industry Magazine - Leadership 2015 Special Edition - 5
Training Industry Magazine - Leadership 2015 Special Edition - Infographic
Training Industry Magazine - Leadership 2015 Special Edition - 7
Training Industry Magazine - Leadership 2015 Special Edition - A Leader's Guide to Influence
Training Industry Magazine - Leadership 2015 Special Edition - 9
Training Industry Magazine - Leadership 2015 Special Edition - Frontline Managers as Leaders
Training Industry Magazine - Leadership 2015 Special Edition - 11
Training Industry Magazine - Leadership 2015 Special Edition - Employee Engagement for a Distributed Workforce
Training Industry Magazine - Leadership 2015 Special Edition - 13
Training Industry Magazine - Leadership 2015 Special Edition - Accelerating Leadership Development
Training Industry Magazine - Leadership 2015 Special Edition - 15
Training Industry Magazine - Leadership 2015 Special Edition - 16
Training Industry Magazine - Leadership 2015 Special Edition - 17
Training Industry Magazine - Leadership 2015 Special Edition - Employee Engagement for a Distributed Workforce
Training Industry Magazine - Leadership 2015 Special Edition - 19
Training Industry Magazine - Leadership 2015 Special Edition - Leaders Leading Leaders
Training Industry Magazine - Leadership 2015 Special Edition - 21
Training Industry Magazine - Leadership 2015 Special Edition - Are You Creating a Training Course of Designing a Learning Experience
Training Industry Magazine - Leadership 2015 Special Edition - 23
Training Industry Magazine - Leadership 2015 Special Edition - 24
Training Industry Magazine - Leadership 2015 Special Edition - 25
Training Industry Magazine - Leadership 2015 Special Edition - Developing Mid-Level Leaders
Training Industry Magazine - Leadership 2015 Special Edition - 27
Training Industry Magazine - Leadership 2015 Special Edition - The Magic of Asking for Feedback
Training Industry Magazine - Leadership 2015 Special Edition - 29
Training Industry Magazine - Leadership 2015 Special Edition - Leadership Development vs. Employee Engagement
Training Industry Magazine - Leadership 2015 Special Edition - 31
Training Industry Magazine - Leadership 2015 Special Edition - 32
Training Industry Magazine - Leadership 2015 Special Edition - 33
Training Industry Magazine - Leadership 2015 Special Edition - Leading at a Higher Level
Training Industry Magazine - Leadership 2015 Special Edition - 35
Training Industry Magazine - Leadership 2015 Special Edition - Competencies as We Know Them are Dead
Training Industry Magazine - Leadership 2015 Special Edition - 37
Training Industry Magazine - Leadership 2015 Special Edition - Building Great Leadership Through Continuous Learning
Training Industry Magazine - Leadership 2015 Special Edition - 39
Training Industry Magazine - Leadership 2015 Special Edition - 40
Training Industry Magazine - Leadership 2015 Special Edition - 41
Training Industry Magazine - Leadership 2015 Special Edition - Maximizing the ROI of e-Learning
Training Industry Magazine - Leadership 2015 Special Edition - 43
Training Industry Magazine - Leadership 2015 Special Edition - The Difference between Leadership Development and Leadership Formation
Training Industry Magazine - Leadership 2015 Special Edition - 45
Training Industry Magazine - Leadership 2015 Special Edition - What's Online
Training Industry Magazine - Leadership 2015 Special Edition - Company News
Training Industry Magazine - Leadership 2015 Special Edition - Cover4
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