Influence: The Skill You Can Develop

Influence: The Skill You Can Develop

When we have more influence with other people, we get more opportunities.

When we have more influence, we have more options. When we have more influence, we have more choices.
	Life will always be better with more options, more opportunities, and more choices.?        

Influence is dynamic. It's simple and yet complex.

For example, we can’t influence our boss the same way we influence our children. (We would never attempt to bribe our boss the way we bribed?our children to get them to behave in the grocery store!) We may not be able to influence our next-door neighbor in the same way we would influence our mother. We can’t influence our teammates the same way we influence our spouse.?

We can’t influence anyone else in the same ways as we influence?ourselves.
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In 2008, I read my first real “leadership” book. It cracked open a door to the brand-new-to-me concept of influence being a skill?I could develop?instead of being a trait I was either born with or born without.?That book helped me understand?we all have the ability to increase our influence and how much better our lives will be when we do.

The Ladder of Influence?represents?5 Steps?we can use to climb as we strive to reach the next level and beyond, personally and professionally. What does this mean to you? Only you can answer that. Maybe you are dreaming of a better relationship with your kids. Maybe you are dreaming of more influence and more options in your career. Maybe you are dreaming of both of these things and much more.

I want you to dream of “something better” because that dream is the inspiration and starting point for change.

?“We dream to give ourselves hope. To stop dreaming, well, that’s like saying you can never change your fate.”? ~Amy Tan        

Most of the time, “something better” is possible. The question is, are you committed to putting in the work to achieve it? In other words, are you willing to sacrifice what is necessary to make your dream a reality? Hope starts with dreams, but you must put in the work to turn your dreams into your reality.?Get started: The Ladder of Influence

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Shahram Shafie

Technical Engineering Management, Product Architect, and Systems Definer, Antenna, at ORTENGA

1 年

Requires active listening

回复
John Haran

Motivational Speaker at Speaker Services

1 年

Yes we can. And having connection with people, where care about each other enables us to get buy in when we seek to exert our influence.

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