STARTING YOUR WEEK WITH THE COACH
“Positive leadership Influence. How you get it, use it, and lose it”
Building relational equity is the key to gaining positive influence with those you lead. Trust is the driver of all relationships. Without trust, people may comply but only until they find a way out. Without trust few people will adopt your values, pursue the vision in any meaningful way, and stay with you for the long haul.
Managers are rewarded for reducing costs and reaching goals. However, with leaders it’s about developing people and increasing team effectiveness. Managers put people on the cost side of the ledger while leaders view them as assets. Managers value people for what they do, leaders value people for who they are. While both are vital who do you think has the most influence?
Above average leadership influence begins with creating a culture of continuous improvement in three ways:
First, everyone must love change and improvement as a way of life. Second, everyone must buy-in to small improvements that when compounded create big wins. Third, everyone must have confidence in their leader and fellow team members that creates uncommon synergy for change and improvement.
People decide what they think about you before they decide what they think about your leadership. Great leaders know you have to gain leadership influence before you can use it effectively. Poor leaders constantly use their positional authority because they fail in gaining positive influence and become impatient.
You get the most influence and you get it quicker by connecting with the hearts and minds of your team members before asking for the efforts of their hands and feet. There’s a political and emotional component to every relationship. How do I feel and is my influence gaining or losing?
Never forget the critical balance between competence and warmth when pursuing leadership influence. If you do, you have to rely on your power and authority to push people to produce because your ability to influence them in a positive way is gone.
Until you ask your team for just a little more than they think they can give, you won’t get all they can give. That takes commitment, trust and honest answers to these seven questions.
When’s the last time you and your team had a vision checkup? Poor attitudes, low energy and lack of engagement may indicate its time.