Good afternoon everyone, the second post for my Human Performance course blog, I am supposed to limit it to 1 to 2 paragraphs. I don’t think I am going to make it. This topic was way too interesting.
I just watched a webinar Exercising Influence, by B. Kim Barnes. Kim is the CEO of Barnes and Conti Associates, Inc. Barnes and Conti Associates Inc. operates out of Berkeley, California, as an independent leadership development firm. You can learn more about Kim and Barnes and Conti Associates Inc. here.
Growing up, there was a commercial on T.V. promoting the stock brokerage E.F. Hutton. Their tagline or motto was “When E.F. Hutton talks, people listen.” Being an influencer has always meant that you were the one people listened to, everyone went to if they had a question, and the one you followed if you wanted things to work out on your work. In the webinar “Exercising Influence,” Kim talks about how influence can help us build relationships with people and get the results we want.
The most interesting part of the webinar discussed the Receptive and Expressive tactics and behaviors to influence people. We are most familiar with expressive tactics and behaviors. These involve telling (suggesting or expressing a need), selling (offering reasons or referring to goals and benefits), negotiating (describing consequences or offering incentives), and enlisting (encouraging or envisioning) people to support or join our cause. What I was not aware of were the receptive tactics and behaviors we use to influence people. These include inquiring (asking open-ended questions or drawing out), listening (checking understanding or testing implications), attuning (disclosing or identifying with the other), and facilitating (clarifying issues or posing challenging questions). These are tactics and behaviors I use regularly but never considered them influencing tactics. Looking at them as influencing tactics and behaviors gives me a better appreciation for them and how they can build the relationships we need and get the results we want. You can learn more about Exercising Influence here.
As I said above, thinking about the influencing tactics and behaviors we use and have available to us has given me a greater appreciation for them and how we can use them. Understanding more about the receptive tactics and behaviors makes me think about how I can use them in the stakeholder meetings I have and how I can influence the results and outcomes I want or need to get to. I was also surprised at how this helped me understand the questions asked during an HPT project better. These questions are meant to clarify and determine the root cause of performance problems. It didn’t occur to me that we would need to influence those we are questioning to get the information we need. I think I have a better understanding of this now.
Well, there it is. I didn’t make the 2 paragraph limitation, but I said what I wanted to say and needed to say. Please let me know if you have any thoughts on this, and we will talk to you again next week.
Scott