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We’ve been developing a global network of exceptional influencers for the past 40 years, and we know that influence touches everything that people and organisations need in order to thrive and succeed.

Encouraging people to use their personal energy and resources to achieve their goals and develop great relationships creates a motivated, autonomous, agile workforce. One that has the tools to aim high, manage change, and hold onto values in the face of a complex, challenging world. Invest in influence skills and you create a powerful culture of connectivity and realised potential.

We think influence is everything. What does it mean to you? Let us know in the comments below.

Influence is Leadership

Much of the time people make things happen purely as a result of their position in an organisation. This is positional power.

Great leaders have personal power, which is seen, felt, and experienced in the way they influence others. Personal power can be developed and grown and, unlike positional power, it has unlimited potential.

In combination, the positive use of both positional and personal power makes leaders inspirational.

“Leadership is a series of behaviours rather than a role for heroes.”

MARGARET WHEATLEY, WRITER

Influence is Partnerships

Partnerships are about the long haul, and that requires a foundation of equality in which each partner is valued.

Over-reliance on our positional power – our status, our expertise, our resources – creates inequality.

Developing the tools to be influential through our internal energy and resources, our personal power, creates inclusive partnerships in which everyone has a voice.

“Ours has been a contented and reasonable partnership, he with his solo jobs and I with mine. But always with work and play together, conducted under a satisfactory system of dual control.”

AMELIA EARHART

Influence is Authenticity

To be truly influential you must be authentic. You need to be present in the conversation, willing to admit uncertainty, and able to see the world from another perspective.

Being genuinely curious about the people you want to influence, and honest about your own thoughts and feelings is essential.

Authentic conversations transform relationships.

“True leadership stems from individuality that is honestly and sometimes imperfectly expressed… Leaders should strive for authenticity over perfection.”

SHERYL SANDBERG, COO FACEBOOK

Influence is Agility

A truly agile organisation does more than just react to meet the needs of a changing environment.

Organisations that empower people to influence move quickly, make fast, good decisions, overcome silo-thinking, and break down barriers.

With influence, an organisation will thrive on turbulence, becoming stronger as it navigates its challenges.

“Today, companies have to radically revolutionize themselves every few years just to stay relevant. That’s because technology and the internet have transformed the business landscape forever. The fast-paced digital age has accelerated the need for companies to become agile”

NOLAN BUSHNELL – FOUNDER OF ATARI

Influence is Culture Change

Organisational culture is defined by the way people behave.

To change that culture people must be empowered to change their behaviour.

The Positive Power and Influence programme creates profound and lasting behavioural change in people, teams, and organisations.

We challenge existing patterns of behaviour and help people find new ways of working together.

Nothing changes unless behaviour changes.

“The stronger the culture, the less corporate process a company needs. When the culture is strong, you can trust everyone to do the right thing. People can be independent and autonomous. They can be entrepreneurial.”

BRIAN CHESKY (CEO AIRBNB)

Influence is Teamwork

Teams take root when a shared vision is articulated with clarity and passion.

In a successful team people embrace their differences and celebrate their common ground.

Teamwork is nurtured by rich communication, intentional behaviour, high expectations, and courage.

“A company is only as good as its people. The hard part is actually building the team that will embody your company’s culture and propel you forward.”

KATHRYN MINSHEW – FOUNDER, THE MUSE

Influence is Resilience

People who can call on the full range of influence styles and behaviours are able to thrive in the face of complex challenges and situations that are outside their experience.

They respond actively and creatively whilst remaining true to their core values and purpose.

They are resilient.

“Resilience is all about being able to overcome the unexpected. Sustainability is about survival. The goal of Resilience is to thrive.”

JAMAIS CASCIO – OPEN THE FUTURE

Influence is Innovation

The ability to innovate, and to bring innovation to reality, is a crucial quality of modern enterprise.

Innovation is more than generating ideas, however brilliant they may be.

Your idea realises its true potential when you influence those around you; you attract others to your vision, you build enthusiasm and energy, you mobilise people, and you gather resource.

Influence turns an idea into an innovation.

“Innovation distinguishes between a leader and a follower.”

STEVE JOBS – APPLE

Influence is Productivity

When traditional measures of productivity indicate a fall in output, it is the processes of the business that are first reviewed.

But process needs people and, so often, productivity is throttled by failure to communicate, lack of cooperation, and poor decision-making.

Effective influence removes these bottlenecks.

“Productivity is being able to do things that you were never able to do before.”

FRANZ KAFKA

Influence is Future

The future is always uncertain.

Change happens and, often, it is how we anticipate and react to that change that drives behaviour.

That adaptability must be anchored to a clear vision of where you want to be.

Influence draws others towards a shared vision of the future.

Focused energy and collective endeavour makes that future more likely.

“Vision is perhaps our greatest strength… It has kept us alive to the power and continuity of thought through the centuries. It makes us peer into the future and lends shape to the unknown.”

LI KA-SHING – CHAIRMAN, CK HUTCHISON HOLDINGS