4 Ways Leaders Influence Others

We all have our own mentors – people who, in one way or another, have played a big role and influenced us in the way that we perceive things. All of us at one point in our lives have influenced those around us. If you want to be a better leader, you should be intentional about the way that you try to influence others.

The most important thing when influencing others is seek to truly want the best for those involved. Your success as a leader or part of a group, as well as in life in general, will depend on your ability to influence people and affect their lives in a positive way. To have a deeper understanding of how you can influence people in a positive or productive manner, think though these four points:

1. Communicate clearly and consistently. Take a manager for example. If an employee under his supervision is often late arriving to work, how can he influence this employee into improving his or her performance at work? The first thing that the manager needs to do is set a good example. By showing up on time, you are sending the message that you may be the boss but you are not exempted from the company rules – even with something as simple as coming to work on time. This way, the manager can influence the employee by being a role model and setting a good example.
2. When faced with unacceptable behavior, search for missing information. Influencing people into your way thinking does not – and should not involve manipulating, bullying, punishing or harassing. If someone is behaving poorly, assume that there is a piece of information you don't know.  Simply punishing the poor behavior will not give you the results that you want. Ask a lot of questions and make sure you fully understand the reason or reasons behind the behavior. Only then can you make an intelligent decision and take steps on how you can change their mind into your way of thinking.
3. Explain the results that you would like to see and get feedback. If you are a leader in a sales company, for example, you all have a common goal to meet as a company. If your employees think that you are only in it for the money with no deeper motivation, you may not influence them into thinking that they should work hard enough to make the company profit. To influence them into meeting the goals that you have, explain the results that you would like to see. The process should not end here, because you also need to gain feedback to learn if the goals are realistic, or if the methods that you want them to use are at all feasible.
4. Listen more than you talk. Influencing people is not just limited to the workplace. Even as a parent, you can try to influence your children into living the kind of life that you would like them to have. As a friend, you may not always agree with your friends actions but you should always be there for them to support whatever decisions it is that they make. Listening and learning how to communicate effectively will make you influence others lives because of a deeper understanding that you will have on what motivates them, which in turn will give you an idea on how to deal with a particular situation.

With these in mind, you can learn how to yield positive results in the way that you influence people, so that you can be successful in reaching the goals that you have set for yourself and for others. Changing how you influence others won't happen overnight. It has to be practiced consistently and coaching is a great way to help you stay consistent. Don't believe us?