Posts Tagged ‘influence’

First watch this video from Air New Zealand

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l_xrPl_i9M8

Yes this is a bit extreme and you would probably never ask your employees to participate in a project like this.  But it should make you curious as to how far your employees would be willing to go for you and your company.

When was the last time that you asked them to commit to a project or initiative that was outside their comfort zone?  And what was their reaction?

If they pushed back on the idea, what strategy did you use to influence them into changing their minds so that they willingly and happily participated?

I would suspect that in the case of Air New Zealand, there was a mixture of leadership influence and personal motivation by the individual participants. The people that volunteered probably liked this type of attention and the opportunity to have “exposure” on a TV advertisement. While at the same time, there was a leader who had a vision and was able to passionately convey the vision and influence people to follow.

How effective are you at influencing others to follow? And are you creating an environment that encourages employee engagement?

As an update, the leader who had the vision is the silver haired guy, body painted as a baggage handler. He is the CEO of Air New Zealand  Now that’s leadership!

One of the definitions of a “leader” in Webster’s Dictionary is “a person who has commanding authority or influence”.  I would argue that in the 21^st century it’s all about influence, not authority. If a leader only has authority and is unable to influence others, then his leadership will be short lived.

Think about those leaders in your organization, whether for profit or not for profit, who may not have the title of VP, Director, or Manager yet they have followers because of their influence with others. These are the people who others listen to and respect but don’t have the title providing them with the authority to lead.

So what if you’re a leader with authority, you’ve got the title, how do you know whether or not you have influence with the people you are leading?  And if you don’t have influence, can you build it?

I am interested in your thoughts and suggestions.