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A leader’s guide to personal influence

Harmony Internal - McKinsey

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ESSENTIALS FOR LEADERS AND THOSE THEY LEAD

Edited by Dana Sand
Editorial Production Manager, Cleveland

Influence is a tried-and-true skill of effective leaders. Aristotle’s Rhetoric first outlined the art of persuasion more than 2,000 years ago. More recently, Dale Carnegie’s bestselling How to Win Friends and Influence People has been updated to address influence in the digital age and for the next generation of leaders. A changing world and business landscape may prompt new advice on how best to use or gain influence, but one thing is certain: the need to exert influence isn’t going anywhere. As Carnegie writes, “There is only one way under high heaven to get anybody to do anything.… And that is by making the other person want to do it.” This week, let’s explore ways to employ personal influence to effect change and to be an impactful leader.

AN IDEA

Wield your influence for positive change

Using your influence for good—especially when it comes to systemic societal issues—can feel like a lofty goal. How can leaders best use their individual resources to push the needle on the complex challenges facing communities across the globe? This new report by McKinsey, in collaboration with several not-for-profit organizations, outlines a three-step Look–Envision–Build model to effect positive systemic change. By mobilizing resources on a “polycapital” level—including career, social, economic, and political sources of influence, or “capital”—the model encourages leaders to first “look with courage,” particularly at flawed systems by which they have inadvertently benefited; “envision with rigor” a clear plan, including the skills and change agents needed for success; and “build with excellence” when laying the groundwork for action. As the report highlights, “The path to becoming an effective change agent is often circular, not linear: when a cycle ends, a new one begins.”

A BIG NUMBER

33%

That’s the percentage of our day spent daydreaming or scenario planning, with the main exceptions being life-or-death situations or when someone is telling us a story. Going back to Aristotle’s Rhetoric, persuasion requires ethos (character), logos (reason), and pathos (emotion) to build trust and move others to action. “The most inspirational leaders are the best storytellers,” says René Rodriguez, author of Amplify Your Influence: Transform How You Communicate and Lead. “They know what story to tell at the perfect time to help us see a vision of possibility.” The 500 most popular TED Talks devote 65 percent of their time to storytelling . In a time of information overload, carefully crafting your message and building allies are important steps toward commanding influence.

A QUOTE

“Even when company leaders believe they know who the influencers will be, they are almost always wrong.”

That’s Lili Duan, Emily Sheeren, and Leigh Weiss in this McKinsey Quarterly article on tapping the power of hidden influencers. Informal influence has an outsize impact on everything—ranging from morale and engagement to support for organizational change efforts—and “hidden influencers” exist in all organizations. Leaders can tap this unrecognized potential by identifying influential employees through “snowball sampling” and bringing them into the fold to increase the likelihood of the successful execution of key projects. Rapport, trust, and the ability to mobilize informal networks can mean more than a title or hierarchy.

A SPOTLIGHT INTERVIEW

The past few years have brought a steep rise in executive-level diversity and inclusion roles. As Ares Management’s first global chief DEI officer (CDO), Indhira Arrington has been navigating how to effectively use influence in uncharted waters. “The most challenging part of being a CDO is that you don’t own any place where the work gets done,” she says. “You don’t own any of the functions. I’m meant to drive change through influence, which is awesome but can also be challenging.” What has Arrington found effective so far? A strong focus on listening: she dedicated her first 90 days to listening and gathering data before developing a strategy. Arrington also notes her responsibility to pay it forward and open doors for others. Working in the DEI space, she recognizes “the power and influence that we have to create change beyond our own walls.”

LET’S GET PERSONAL

Authentically building relationships with others is crucial to developing a circle of influence within your organization. By understanding people’s mindsets, leaders are better able to contextualize and personalize change efforts, big and small. Sharing information can build transparency and trust in your work relationships, expand your and your team’s power and influence, and ultimately help you reach the critical mass of people leaders needed to effect change. The benefits of personalizing change initiatives and increasing others’ agency to influence outcomes that are important to them flow both ways: workers with a positive employee experience demonstrate 16 times higher engagement levels , maximizing your overall impact as a leader.

Lead influentially.

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by "McKinsey Leading Off" <publishing@email.mckinsey.com> - 01:06 - 15 Aug 2022

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A leader’s guide to personal influence

Wield your influence for positive change

“Even when company leaders believe they know who the influencers will be, they are almost always wrong.”