The Power of Influence

We embrace learning and growth here at Zenith Home Loans. In fact, it is one of our core values:?Strive to Grow Personally and Professionally.?Of course, reading books is a cornerstone of that learning. So I started reading a book called?Amplify Your Influence?by a good friend and somebody I respect immensely from the mortgage industry, René Rodriguez. And over the next few weeks, I'm going to be sharing some of my key takeaways.

And in full disclosure, I've participated in René's AMPLIFII Coaching program twice in the past and had him present his Engage program to our team here at Zenith.

René shares a story that lays the groundwork behind what he teaches in these programs that I'd like to share here. René's mother, who worked as a change management consultant, played a significant role in the work that René does today. His mother once asked him this question, and I'm paraphrasing,?"If you speak to a group of people and share your ideas and they don't do anything after you spoke to them, they don't make any changes, did you say anything at all? Did you even speak?"

I believe that is the cornerstone of what René teaches. The workshops I've participated in with him have significantly impacted my communication. As the leader of Zenith, a large part of my job is influencing a group of talented people to all pull in the same direction and deliver the highest level of customer service possible. I take that responsibility very seriously because I believe in the importance of the work that we do here, and I take everybody's employment security very seriously.

So, if I cannot influence people to do what's necessary for our success, I will fail in my role. Many of the leaders I've worked for in my career struggled to communicate effectively. Most of them struggled with their ability to influence. It's not that they didn't have good ideas or that they didn't care. It's that they couldn't get people to do what they wanted them to do. They couldn't influence others.

René writes: Canadian businessman, investor, and television personality Robert Herjavec often shares some great advice with competitors on the US television show?Shark Tank:?"It's not my responsibility to listen. It's your responsibility to make me hear."?I love that quote because of how direct that advice is. It is up to the person communicating to ensure the message has been received.

The concepts that René teaches and shares in this book are not just valuable for a business setting. If you think about it, our ability to influence others is critical in helping us in every area of our life. The subtitle of Renée's book is?Transform How You Communicate and Lead. Those are two skills that can massively impact all our relationships.

Writing about this book has a little added pressure for me since I'm aware that René occasionally reads these posts. So, thank you, René, for writing this book, and to everyone else who reads this, I'm looking forward to sharing his teachings with you.

Quote of the week:

“Influence is not something that's learned overnight. It's an art that requires many skills and takes practice to master.”

René Rodriguez