Yearly Archives: 2021

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Influence is about them — but the responsibility is ours.

I have been writing and sharing some thoughts on the topic of influence. As John Maxwell has taught, and I believe, the definition of leadership is influence. Your influence on another person is critical in your leadership. It is true that when we influence another person, they benefit. However, we must own and continue developing the skills required to influence and change behavior to achieve better results. Your influence is not about you. Influence is the experience you create for someone based on what they see, hear, and understand. That is the key differentiator. It means the responsibility shifts from the listener or reader to the communicator. The bottom line is we must earn the right for people to listen. What I [...]

By |2022-01-22T16:01:28+00:00December 29th, 2021|Connecting, Development, Leadership|0 Comments

What is influence?

Most people think influence comes with power, authority, experience, and position. It is true that these factors may affect your influence, but I have found they are not the most relevant. INFLUENCE IS ALL ABOUT COMMUNICATION. Communication is the very foundation of influence. However, when discussing the subject of communication the topic of influence rarely comes up. The impact of communication on influence becomes even more significant when one considers we can not communicate. Virtually everything we do professionally and personally communicates a message and therefore IMPACTS (positively or negatively) our ability to INFLUENCE others. Authors Boone and Kurtz in Contemporary Business estimate that leaders, “spend about 80% of their time (6 hours and 24 minutes) of every eight-hour day in direct [...]

By |2022-01-22T15:56:40+00:00December 22nd, 2021|Coaching|0 Comments

Is it the message or the delivery?

What I know to be true is people are influenced by what you say, and how you make them feel. If your message and delivery are in sync, others will perceive you as trustworthy, credible, sincere and authentic. When your words match the way you behave, how you look and how you sound, your communication is the total package. What your listeners hear, see and feel is in harmony, consistency builds trust, which in turn builds influence. In reading Professor Albert Mehrabian’s work on communication, he states the following “When communication is unclear, when the message and the delivery are inconsistent, we pay more attention to nonverbal cues to interpret the meaning.” Here are two examples: when a customer service [...]

By |2021-12-21T20:53:25+00:00December 15th, 2021|Coaching|0 Comments

Three simple words.

How would you like to create a positive ripple effect that will move others to a deeper commitment? A three-word concept may be the right prescription. You see positive encouraging words are the seeds of commitment -- once they are spoken, they grow into results. We only have to say three simple words. Try a few of these out on your team, or someone in your life you care about. I appreciate you I trust you You will succeed I am sorry (and mean it!) I can help I understand you I promise you (and keep it!) I believe you You will succeed You inspire me I’ll bet you can think of more. We need to remember that the results [...]

By |2021-11-30T21:47:58+00:00November 30th, 2021|Connecting, Development, Leadership|0 Comments

Mining for gold.

Andrew Carnegie was an excellent businessman, leader, and coach. He came to America from his native Scotland as a small boy. He did a variety of small jobs, and eventually ended up at the largest steel manufacturer in the United States. At one time he was the wealthiest man in America, and he became a great philanthropist. At one point during his career, he had 43 millionaires working for him. In the late 1800s, a millionaire was a rare breed. A reporter once asked Carnegie how he managed to hire 43 millionaires, with which Carnegie replied, “They were not millionaires when I hired them.” The reporter’s follow-up question was a simple, yet provoking one, “How did you develop them to be [...]

By |2021-11-23T19:10:51+00:00November 24th, 2021|Coaching, Development, Leadership|0 Comments
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