Building Influencing skills

Dr Rosemary HowellStrategic Action Pty Ltd

Session objectives

Explore the influencing process from a more strategic perspective

Identify constraints and thinking tools

Investigate the strategies from the Harvard Negotiation Program

Use case studies to practise and review

So what is influencing?

A working definition

Influencing = communication for the purpose of persuasion

And why do we want to build influencing skills?

► The ability to influence is the most powerful indicator of job satisfaction

►Supports emerging leaders in the challenge of bringing others along with them

►Congruence with the McKinsey model – 5 dimensions of leadership

Let’s observe some Influencing in action

And some more .....

So what did we see?

Are there some preliminary thoughts about influencing we can draw from this?

A strategic approach to influencing requires us to utilise:* thinking tools* a more formalised structure

So let’s identify some thinking tools

Let’s begin with some rules of engagement

Persuasion needs to be ‘on the merits’

Manipulation and coercion may change short term behaviour but

Over time they destroy trust and the power to influence

And ...

Politics are a minefield

There is a difference between being a political player and being politically astute

The powerful long-term influencer is apolitical

And some constraints■The non-negotiables

Boundaries Psychological conditions

■ Misalignment of culture and values

■The urge to ‘win’ or ‘be seen to be right’

■Maslow’s hierarchy is always in play

And we also need some thinking tools to deal with 2 more things:

►the role of context

And .....

►the power of our perceptions

Watch the following video

Count the number of completed passes between players with white shirts

Players with black shirts are irrelevant

Only completed passes are counted and if the ball bounces before it is caught it is not counted

* Discuss with the people on your table

* Agree your answer and write it on the ‘post it’ provided

What should we do about the gorilla?

Watch the following video

►Discuss what you see with those on your table►Negotiate agreement about what you see►Prepare to share your answer with the room

What did we see?

What’s the relevance to influencing ?

Adding 2 more thinking tools

The first tool

The Reflexive Loop

I takeACTIONS

based on my beliefs

I adoptBELIEFS

about the world

I drawCONCLUSIONS

I makeASSUMPTIONS

based on the meanings I add

I addMEANINGS

(cultural and personal)

I selectDATA

from what I observe

OBSERVABLE ‘DATA’ AND EXPERIENCES(as a videotape recorder might capture it)

The Reflexive LoopOur beliefs affect what data we select next time.

Adapted from ‘Overcoming Organizational Defences’ Chris Argyris 1990

And the second tool - the circle chart analysis

I) PROBLEM II) ACTION

I) PROBLEM II) ACTION

Headache Aspirin

I) PROBLEM

Headache

I) PROBLEM

Headache

II) DIAGNOSIS

Check pulse, blood pressure, heart, ECG, etc

I) PROBLEM

Headache

II) DIAGNOSIS

Check pulse, blood pressure, heart, ECG, etc

III) GENERAL

PRESCRIPTION

Lower blood pressure

I) PROBLEM

Headache

II) DIAGNOSIS

Check pulse, blood pressure, heart, ECG, etc

III) GENERAL

PRESCRIPTION

Lower blood pressure

IV) ACTION Take tabletschange dietmore exercise

Let’s put all this together to createThe 8 habits of the effective influencer

Habit Number 1

If you want to change how they see things – find out how they see things♦Question assumptions♦Are you thinking about the

symptoms or the problem♦Use the reflexive loop tool

Habit Number 2.

Maximise your power♦Question your assumptions about who has the power

♦Create power in your good opinion

♦Authenticity and congruence enhance ‘presence’

Habit Number 3.

Make it easy to say yes

♦Offer a solution not a problem

♦It is possible to be too flexible and accommodating

Habit Number 4.

No surprises

♦Signal your presence

♦Repetition repetition repetition

♦Remove distractions

Habit Number 5.

Focus on interests not positions

♦A counterintuitive concept for most of us

♦Takes us from ‘what’ people say they want to ‘why’

♦Be clear about yours and clarify theirs

Habit Number 6.

Commit to building repertoire

♦Be a double loop learner

♦Be prepared to change the buttons

A great example of changing the

buttons

Habit Number 7.

Take account of different behavioural preferences► consider different requirements of

► Extroverts vs introverts►Task vs project people►Thinkers vs feelers

Habit Number 8

The only thing you can change is your own behaviour

►Consider the Covey notion of the ‘circle of influence’ (see handout)

Taking stock

■Where are we up to?

■What have we covered?

■Any questions we should think about at this stage?

■What’s next?

Thinking more strategically about structure

•An introduction to the tools from the Harvard negotiation Program•Learning a more formal and strategic way to:

• Prepare for• Conduct and• Review a negotiation

Your task:* read the egg problem* choose a negotiation partner with a different coloured sheet* conduct the negotiation (20 mins)* record outcome on ‘post it’

Debrief

■ an introduction to the 7 element process

■Development of a preparation memo

An introduction to the 7 element process

What is a good outcome to a negotiation ?

►Discuss on your tables

►Can we develop a list?

what is fair? win/win? reach agreement? do better than the other

side? break their bottom line? get there efficiently?

A GOOD OUTCOMETO NEGOTIATION

Better than ALTERNATIVES (BATNA)

Satisfies INTERESTS:-Ours: well- Yours: acceptably- Others: tolerably

Amongst best of many OPTIONS

A GOOD OUTCOME

A

B

2

31

x x

x x x

PARETO OPTIMAL

Better than ALTERNATIVES (BATNA) Satisfies INTERESTS -Ours:

well- Yours: acceptably- Others: tolerably

Amongst best of many OPTIONS LEGITIMACY - measured by objective

criteria Well planned, compliance-prone

COMMITMENTS Effective COMMUNICATION Helps build RELATIONSHIP

A GOOD OUTCOME

Building skills in this process

► collect the Finger Wharf problem► develop a preparation memo in a group (with the same facts)►Find a negotiation partner with different facts►Negotiate (30 minutes)

Search for pareto possibilitiesDon’t rush!

Debrief

Drawing it all together

A review of what we’ve covered today

Questions about your difficult negotiations

Session close