Influence

Are you an influencer or an irritant?  Most managers would choose the former but often end up being the latter.  In today’s market, influence is the key to building a collaborative work environment.  But how do you get it?

First, you have to see beyond yourself.  Most of your work time is spent planning, equipping, and executing with your team.  But who provides the input your team needs?  And who has to handle the results of the work you and your team produce?  In other words, can you see the other teams around you and consider their needs right along with your own?

Second, you have to over communicate with your colleagues about how you and your team can better integrate with theirs.  You have to know their goals, how your work impacts them, and seek to make that impact positive!  In other words, you have to accept that you are your “fellow manager’s keeper”.  And each time you do then you are building your influence.

Third, are you willing to listen?  I mean really listen to what your colleagues are saying, and do so in a way that they feel like you have their best interest on par with your own.  Each time you do this you are building trust, credibility, and influence.  There is no middle ground here.  You are either viewed as a leader with influence or they whisper about how much you irritate them.  You get to choose.
 
Be encouraged,
Barry