Who do you need to influence to gain commitment to your plans or ideas? How do you influence effectively without using your positional power?

Influencing is an interpersonal and communication skill that is used with stakeholders to support your ideas or initiatives.

Professor Gavin Kennedy from the Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh Business School, in his book Influencing for Results, sees it as a mandatory skills because “everyone can be influenced, everybody is influenced”.

Here are 5 tips from Professor Kennedy on how you can influence for results:

1. Contact people who can influence the outcome you seek; consider who you will work with to create opportunities for co-operation
2. Recognise and notice opportunities to be tactical and strategic; build relationships and stay informed
3. Don’t hesitate to return favours and look for opportunities to extend your responsibilities; positive reciprocal actions build relationships with others
4. Active listening is the key to successful influencing; listen more than talk and summarise what you are hearing
5. Don’t solve other peoples’ problems; engage them using empathic, probing questions. For example:

• What is the problem?
• How did it affect you?
• How did you feel at the time?
• How would you benefit if the problem was solved?

Finally, consider…

Influencing is not about expressing or winning arguments. To influence with results consider using a coaching style and framework that clarifies goals, identifies the reality and what matters to the person you are influencing.