Do you want to persuade or influence?

We sometimes use the terms influence and persuade interchangeably. But I think there’s a subtle difference and thinking about it might make us approach things a bit differently.

When we’re persuading someone we’re using the power of words and our understanding of human behaviour to reason with them so that they do something. It can sometimes seem borderline pushy or manipulative. (Think - tricking a toddler into eating their peas.)?

People good at sales often have excellent powers of persuasion. They are smooth talkers, they see our weak points, they know how humans think, and before we know it we’ve been convinced that we have to have whatever it is they’re peddling.?

Influence goes much deeper. I see influence as being more about trust and credibility. And more about impacting someone’s thinking…not just their behaviour.?

Persuasion requires excellent communication skills. Influence requires a relationship.

Persuasion results in buy-in, without necessarily fully changing the underlying thinking (the toddler still hates peas). Influence results in a change in thinking.

When people have been persuaded they do the thing, but not necessarily well, and not necessarily happily, and not necessarily again.?

But when people have been influenced, it’s at the level of the thinking; not just the behaviour in that moment. It impacts all the other thinking and potentially all the future behaviour.

How is this relevant to us as Quality people?

As a Quality person, yes, our skills of persuasion are important. It’s kind of nice to be able to talk an auditor out of giving us a major nonconformance, isn’t it? That’s persuasion at work.

But I think when it comes to building a Quality Culture, it’s all about influence.?

I don’t know about you, but I find it hard to be persuaded by someone I don’t know and trust. Why should I buy-in? Are they credible? Have they proven to me that they know what they’re talking about? What’s their track-record? Are they trustworthy? Have I dealt with them before? Do we have a history? Am I being conned? Do I know others who trust this person??

No matter how persuasive we are; no matter how smooth we are as communicators, it still might be tough to get upper management behind us. Especially if they don’t know us. Or know how we feel about them. Or trust that we know everything we need to know about their pressures, objectives, and priorities.?

But if we’ve proven ourselves; if we’ve nurtured a good relationship with them; if they know us and trust us; if one of their buddies in the C-suite speaks well of us; if they are aware that we know their priorities, then it might just be possible to influence their thinking so that they begin to embrace Quality as a legitimate and integral concern in all they do.?

We can show them the numbers and try to persuade them that oodles of money will be saved if they listen to us. Or we can take the time to get to know them, allow them to know us, prove ourselves to them bit by bit, and show them our commitment to their goals.

If we can influence rather than persuade, we’ll be making a more lasting impact. By changing thinking, rather than behaviour, the impact extends beyond the “issue of the moment” and spills over to everything that person touches up against.?

And the power of influence isn’t just up, it’s also down. We have a tremendous ability to influence those throughout the entire organization. Everything we do that builds trust makes it more likely that we’ll be able to influence others.

So…walk the talk. Get to know people. Get them to know you. Listen. Engage. Walk around. Model Quality. Notice Quality. Make small talk. Show you understand everyone.?Build those relationships - up, down, and sideways.

Build the trust that will build the relationships that will allow you to have greater influence throughout your organization.?

Thoughts?

#qualityculture #communication #medicaldevices #pharma #biotech

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