#17 - Leadership Series: 10 qualities for influencing others
Monday, May 18th 2009 @ 9:42 PM
Neville Johnny highlights ten important qualities in influencing others. These skills can be learned and can really make a difference in work, home and in a social setting.
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Influencing people is a very important skill in today's competitive world. As a leader, you want to bring people onboard not by the position, but by the people skills you have demonstrated to your team and colleagues.
It is worth noting that these qualities can be applied in any situation and can make a significance difference!!
So here are my top 10 qualities in influencing others:
1. Consistency
Your leadership style is not a manipulative technique. Rather it is part of your mission. When the stress and pressure is the highest in your life, you follow your style as you would a code of values, a manifestation of your character, a reflection of who you are and who you are becoming.
2. Praise Effort
You look for opportunities to sincerely thank your followers for their effort and loyalty. You specifically describe the behaviour changes you have seen and tell others about your followers successes.
3. Persuasion
This includes sharing reasons and rationale, making a strong case for your position, while maintaining a genuine respect for your followers ideas and
perspective. You tell why as well as what. You commit to stay and participate in the communication process.
4. Patience
You develop a long term approach with patience with the development of the process and the person. In spite of failure and short comings, and
inconvenience, created by your followers, you stay committed to your goals in spite of short term obstacles and resistance.
5. Gentleness
This is the opposite of hardness, harshness or forcefulness. This is especially key when dealing with vulnerabilities, disclosures, and feelings
followers might express.
6. Teachableness
You do not have all the answers and insights. You openly value the different viewpoints, judgments, and experiences followers might have.
7. Acceptance
You withhold judgment. You give the benefit of doubt. You accept others values and views for what they are.
8. Kindness
You are sensitive and caring. You are thoughtful, remembering the little things (which are really the big things!) in relationships.
9. Openness
You ask for your followers opinion frequently on all topics and issues. You give full consideration to your followers intentions and opinions. You acquire accurate information about your followers beliefs, and goals.
10. Compassionate Confrontation
You acknowledge error and mistakes and discuss openly the need of your followers to make course corrections. This is done in a context of care,
concern and warmth, making it safe for your followers to risk.
Finally, I would like to finish on a quote that gives another fitting angle on this:
Blessed is the influence of one true, loving human soul on another. George Eliot (1819 - 1880)
