​Influence at Work for Managers, Team Members & New Leaders

First, let’s identify what makes thought leaders in an organisation. They spread joy and drive fear away. When facing a new problem, they are the one facing it upfront and encouraging the team to solve it. They are approachable and straight forward, that means a lot of people approach them for questions, concerns or advices because they have open arms and they know how to say something without going around the bush. They tell you directly what you need to know in all honesty and transparency.

First, prepare a professional presentation. Make sure the way you present the project is flawless, it shows exactly what needs to be known about your projects, the benefits, the possible outcomes and all the reasons why they should consider going forward with it.  Use images and picture if it’s possible, most images can represent and mean more to the listener than words. Make sure they are attractive images and not random images. It would be sad if they do not understand your project so they decide to move on and thank you for your time.

In order to reach the status of existing leaders, influencers and thought leaders in your company, it’s easier to start working with the current establishment and making your way through, this mean to be closer to these people, work with them and earn your place among them. Do not wait until your superiors offer you this opportunity, organically do it. Get closer to these people and naturally, the people in charge will soon notice a phenomenon going on, but to do so, follow these steps.

In order to care about the company’s vision and live the company’s vision, you first need to know what that vision is. What is the direction of the vision? Where are they going? What are the current objectives? Identify what is the purpose of the vision and know what it practically means.

If you aren’t aware of the vision, find out what the vision is. Identify who you need to talk to to get your facts straight and know who will inform you of the vision. Once you do know about it, you can even ask your colleagues for clarifications.

In this section, we will cover how to build an executive presence and that’s because it is a must when it comes to having influence at work. Let’s understand what is an executive presence and why you must have one to build influence at work.

An executive presence has many components which I will give in details, but in few words, it’s like being a magnet, making others feel safe around you and have presence in every room you enter.You are not ignored in a room and people notice you pretty quickly.

First, your impression is important to be confident and display confidence. By taking care of your appearance, it naturally boosts your confidence because you know you are on top of your game and it shows others you care about how you look. This include grooming, taking care of your hair and dressing nicely. You don’t need expensive clothes, but a bit of knowledge in how to dress will become handy. Dressing flashy might not be the good way as it can mean you are looking for attention.

Now let’s learn how to have a strong body language displaying confidence and leadership. With just your body, you can show to others that they can trust you and you are worth their attention so let’s learn how to do that.

As per the last lesson, practice smiling, not only is it friendly but it will put you in a good mood and that’s important in being confident. If you’re not wearing a smile, you may look grumpy, tired or even bored, only if you know what facial expression you want to have, a smile might be the best outcome.

Before being able to talk like a leader, you need to Understand How Leaders Communicate, what is their thought process and what do they focus on when speaking. Most people fall in the trap of ‘’having trust’’ rather than focusing on building trust, it is earned and you can’t take it for granted. Your superiors and colleagues can’t see you as a leader if you can’t trust or follow you.

First thing first, use words your audience uses, whether you’re speaking at work or giving a speech, make sure to use words you audience understand and use also, it’s about finding common grounds with them. Your goal is to talk to them in their own language and not try to persuade them with words they don’t understand or is unfamiliar.

Great presentation skills is a must for every influencers, thought leaders and people looking to get promotion in a company, it’s the ultimate sign of confidence and power! Indeed, it’s not everyone who can deliver a clear, well structured speech but if that’s you, you just gain a massively amount of points. Remember in history, our leaders used to give speech to move the nations, still to this day, people admires those who gives great presentation.

So why be more visible? Well first off, it helps tremendously when it comes to career development, nowadays, being good at your job isn’t the only requirement for getting ahead in your career. Thought leaders and your superiors needs to notice you through the opportunities you take and include you when building projects. Do not have a passive presence in your workplace, but be active and noticeable if you want to get ahead.

It’s good to influence everyone at work and have leadership skills that everyone enjoy, but knowing the authorities and decision makers in your organisation will help you target those who needs to notice you so you can get higher in the company.

If you don’t know yet who are the decision makers, get into the internet and make a list of everyone’s title and responsibilities, if shown on the company’s website or on their LinkedIn profiles.

Before the meeting, you can decide in advance how often do you want to speak. Believe me, you don’t have to speak every second or give your opinion on every subject of discussion, only bring value where you can add some. If you don’t know how it will go down or how others expect you to participate in a meeting, just refer to your superiors or to the organisers, ask them what they want you to cover and if they expect anything from you.

So how can you offer help? Well, be specific and accountable about what you can do. Can you help with marketing, with paperwork or with cleaning duties? Be clear of what you can help them with, it allows the other person to imagine how they can use your help and being accountable is the basis of proposing help.

First, what comes to mind when you think of someone who’s rude and controlling? Being rude is often ignoring the other person feeling or interest, either with your words, actions or even body language, but what about being controlling? Well, wanting the control over any situations. You know these people that know your problem before you tell them? Yeah. They get angry if you don’t follow their advice, they have personal rules they expect you to follow and can’t understand why anyone sees things differently than they do.

So first, what makes a healthy work relationship? Well, it’s based on 5 strong principles and it gives us many benefits to have healthy relationship, work is more enjoyable, people are more likely to go along with our ideas and changes and we’re more innovative and creative, but more importantly, it give us freedom. No more energy wasted on overcoming problems of negative relationships, you can finally focus on opportunities together.

How can you put yourself in a position in which people trust what you are saying is the truth because they know what you talk about, which results of having influence on them? Well, it’s our expertise. You can not only have influence based on the relationship you have with them, but also through your expertise. When people trust every word you say on a certain topic, they start seeing you as an expert and trust your propositions and ideas simply because they trust you know what you’re doing. Let me show how you build that.

So how does your character has an impact on how people sees you? Well, your words are a mirror of who you are, this includes the words you use and your conversations. If you swear all the time and all you talk is negative conversation, talking bad about others and gossiping, can you see the image it would give? What if you’re angry most of the time, you always think people are staring at your weirdly and they have a problem with you, plus people just see an angry person in front of them.