Increase Your Influence at Work

PREFACE

T

his book is about influence, how you can develop it, and how

you can use it to affect the behavior or thinking of people

with whom you work. The ability to influence others is an

important ingredient of success for people at every level in an or-

ganization, including nonmanagers. Even those who have formal

organizational power benefit from understanding and using influ-

ence at work. Every newly minted manager quickly discovers that

formal power is overrated as a tool for getting things done. Manag-

ers’ authority is constrained by dependence on others and by the

necessities of ‘‘participative’’ management. It’s getting harder and

harder to order subordinates around! And the cooperation of peers

and other groups cannot be gained through compulsion.

People who know how to influence enjoy many benefits. They

can:

? Lead and manage more effectively

? Frame important issues their way

? Win support for their ideas and projects

? Contribute more fully to important decisions

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vi Preface

? Resolve conflicts more easily

? Advance their careers

More important, they have a greater measure of control over their

lives at work. Instead of being passive participants and simply

doing what they’re told, they have a greater say in how the scripts

of their working lives are written. And that is worth a lot in terms

of work-life satisfaction.

Whether you’re a supervisor, a manager, or an individual con-

tributor, you can increase your influence at work. And this book

will show you how. The first chapter explains the concept of influ-

ence and how it differs from those other tools for getting things

done: power and persuasion. The next two chapters present a con-

ceptual framework with two main elements: (1) the foundation

attributes of influence (trustworthiness, reliability, and assertive-

ness), and (2) six practical tactics for influencing others. Because

influence is based on trust, the foundation attributes are things you

must exhibit if you aim to alter the thinking and behavior of others

at work. Once you have those attributes, you can select and apply

the tactics most appropriate for your situation.

In Chapters 4 and 5 you’ll discover where the rubber meets the

road. These chapters offer practical tips for influencing the three

most important sets of people in life at work: your subordinates;

your peers; and numero uno, your boss.

Finally, there’s the issue of ethics. Influence has a potential dark

side. It can be—and has been—used for the wrong purposes: to

deceive, to manipulate, and to further selfish ends at the expense

of the general good. Our final chapter examines these ethical issues

in terms of the influencer’s ends and means.

That’s it in a nutshell. So read on and learn how you can be-

come more influential at work.

American Management Association

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