Influencing and

Communicating With
Leaders and Peers
Our Objectives

 Building Relationships

 Outlining the Levers of Influence

 Preparing Your Pitch

 Building
Relationships
Building Relationships
 Know Your Manager and Peers:
1. Spend time learning their interests and priorities
2. Learn their pet peeves and avoid them
3. Don’t talk negatively about your colleagues
4. Understand and support their:
• Strengths
• Weaknesses
• Priorities and Goals
• Work style (e.g., Is your manager a reader or a listener?)

“Managing your Boss,” by John J. Gabarro and John P. Kotter, Harvard Business Review
The 360 Degree Leader: Developing your Influence from Anywhere within the Organization, by John C. Maxwell
Levers of
Influence
Influencer

The true measure of

leadership is influence –
nothing more, nothing less.
- John Maxwell
Levers of Influence

 People will attempt to change their behavior if:

1. They believe it will be worth it (motivation)
2. They can do what is required (ability)

 You can influence motivation and ability

through personal, social and structural
sources
Six Sources of Influence

Motivation Ability

Personal
Social
Structural
Personal Motivation

 Help people find intrinsic

satisfaction:
1. Immersing them in the
activity
2. Tapping into people’s
sense of pride and
competition
3. Linking new behaviors to
their values
Personal Ability

 Ensure that people have the

ability to change:
1. Breaking behaviors into
clear, specific and
repeatable actions
2. Creating time and space
to practice new skills
3. Providing immediate
feedback against clear
standards
Social Motivation

 Use peer pressure:

1. Cultivating the support of
“opinion leaders”
2. Surfacing undiscussables
through public discourse
3. Removing people from
existing networks and
placing them in a new,
supportive network
Social Ability

 When individuals need the

support of those around
them to change:
1. Getting entire groups to
change behavior
together
2. Co-opting others by
turning your problem
into their own
3. Having participants teach
one another new behaviors
Structural Motivation

 Extrinsic rewards should

compliment other strategies:
1. Linking rewards to
specific actions (not
outcomes)
2. Using small, heartfelt
tokens of appreciation
3. Using punishment
judiciously – start with a
warning but never bluff
Structural Ability

 Shape the environment to

make change easier:
1. Changing the physical
environment
2. Making a small amount
of important data visible
to reinforce behaviors
3. Eliminating choice
altogether
Applying the Influencer
 In small groups, pick one of the challenges you shared
at the beginning. Work together to determine how you
might apply this model to that case.
Preparing Your Pitch
Communication Discussion

 How do communication skills affect your ability

to have an impact?

 Why is it difficult to communicate effectively?

• Executive vs. peer audiences?
Focus on the Audience

 Are you communicating up, down or across?

 Are they:
• Experts?
• Educated decision-makers?
• Customers?
• Collaborators?
 Frame your case – tell them why they should
care
Characteristics of Executive Audiences

 Busy
 Distracted
 Impatient
 Thinking about something else
 Prone to tangents
 Have multiple agendas (some open, some hidden)
Conveying Your Message – Make It Stick

 Keep it simple and brief

 Lead with results/impact
 Use stories to support findings and
recommendations
 Make the ask clear
 Deliver the unexpected (w/o being gimmicky)
 Use alternative media as appropriate
How Do You Fail?

 No explanation of significance
 No roadmap
 Not knowing your stuff
 Gaps in logic
 Excessive detail
 Gimmicky
How Do You Succeed?

 Do not share everything you know – but be ready to

provide depth and complexity when asked

 Answer questions efficiently – if you don’t know the

answer, do NOT make one up

 Be prepared NOT to get through everything:

• You will be interrupted
• The audience may focus on one issue and never let go
• Make your most important points early
Examples of Effective Communications

 Jared Fogle – Subway Celebrity

 Derek Sivers – Starting a Movement

 Alexis Ohanian –
How to Make a Splash in Social Media

 Others?
Effective Communications Strategies

 For communications to be successful, you must

move beyond one-time communications:
• Repeat, repeat, repeat
• Explore different mediums of communication
• Meet people where they are
• Do not assume that hearing equates with
understanding or action
• Communicate throughout any initiative, not just at the
beginning
Next Steps
Action Planning

 What is one action you will take upon returning to

work?

 What support will you need to accomplish this

goal?
Stay Engaged!

 Center for Government Leadership:

• Annenberg Leadership Seminars
• Excellence in Government Fellows program
• Fed Coach

 Daily Pipeline

 Service to America Medals

ourpublicservice.org