Leadership Influence Evolution – Being The Leader You’re Meant To Be
There are three major spheres of influence that every leader develops. Before we explore what they are, let’s take a look at what influence is all about. Influence is the ability of winning devotion or allegiance or of persuasively gaining acceptance and belief of others. You’ll notice that the definition does not say that you can mandate or order influence. Yes, you can order people to carry out tasks, but that will not give you influence. It will however give you a reputation, usually as the person who sits in the corner office and doesn’t give a rats about the people who carry out his or her commands.
Influence without a doubt is the single most important attribute that a leader must develop. You can’t buy it, order it or ask for it. Influence is earned usually over time and by demonstrating that the majority of your decisions include input from the people impacted, that you take the time explain decisions especially if your decision is contrary to what the group expected. Influence is also earned by carrying out your duties with respect for others and for the good of the organization. Trust is a major component of influence. You don’t get influence until people trust you.
The lack of influence is what makes it so hard for any level of leadership coming into a new position or team. You may have position and authority, but you don’t start off with influence. It must be earned over time. It’s crucial for leaders in new positions to balance the progress they think their bosses want verses the lack of influence they have in their new assignment area.
Sometime new leaders will discover this unwritten rule of influence when they make their 1st decision and the group turns to the unofficial “real” leader of the team to make sure that person concurs with the decision. If the new leader has ignored the influence leader in the group, and the change is not supported by the existing “Influence” leader, you’ll have virtually no hope of successful implementing your proposed change; even though you think you’re in charge.
Let’s take a look at three major spheres of influence. Every person promoted into a leadership role must excel in at least one of these spheres of influence. They are:
- Leader to team
- Peer to Peer
- Leader to Senior Leader
Usually when a person is promoted into a leadership role, part of the reason will be that they have demonstrated that they are particularly good at one of their sphere’s of influence. Unfortunately in most organizations it’s almost always the “Leader to Senior Leader” influence relationship that gets people promoted. It’s a very mature and farsighted organization that see’s through the shallowness of people who have only developed the “Leadership to Senior Leader” influence relationship. You can well imagine how a person is viewed by the rest of their organization if they only have developed Leadership to Senior Leader influence skills.
As leaders mature, they will begin to develop influence relationships with other spheres of influence. The most common secondary sphere of influence is “Leader to team”. This usually occurs due to the close daily impact that both the leader and the team has on each other. It’s a very superficial or even sociopathic leader who does not soon realize their future success is completely tied to how successful their team is. From a less cynical perspective, the average leader actually matures and realizes that the legacy of how they make the people feel becomes a key driver in their overall leadership motivations.
The third major sphere of influence is peer to peer. Usually people with intelligence enough to be promoted to leadership roles understand that cooperation between peers or other departments can make or break a career. At the very least a favour done results in an owned favour at some time in the future. In more people centered organizations, leaders recognize that peer success reflects on organization success which should be everyone’s goal.
When people are promoted into leadership roles, the majority of them are usually good at one of these “spheres of influence” I’m sure you can guess which one it typically is. As time goes by and they mature as leaders or if they have a natural talent for leadership, many will gain experience in 2 of these “spheres of influence” It is a unique individual or uncommonly naturally gifted leader who is equally competent in all 3 areas of influence.
So here’s where the rubber meets the road. In order to improve your influence quotient, you need to honestly reflect on how much influence your real have with others, and which “spheres of influence” you truly exert influence in. Goto our website and take our poll to find out where you fit with other leaders.
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Loading ...I work with a lot of leaders who have come face to face with their influence challenges. Most ignore the 1st tools that identify the gapes in their influence spheres. You may have already participated in a 360 Review, or a Peer Review …these are direct reflections on your influence factors. Most leaders blow these result off because they cause self refection that can be painful. If you really want to make a difference in your influence factors, you can call me and I will help you put in place action plans that will significantly assist you shift your influence quotient.
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