ByWajid Raza

Tayyaba Anam

Ch:04 Strategic Influence

Introduction

Strategic influence is how leaders engender commitment to the organization’s strategic

direction and learning. It is absolutely essential to sustaining competitive advantage in contemporary

organizations.

Strategic influence is the art of planning and establishing influence among the public,

customers, potential customers or employees.

Strategic Influence

• Get people on the same page regarding a long-term strategic direction.

• Engender buy-in from people for a strategic venture so that there will be true commitment to it, not mere compliance (or worse, active or passive resistance).

• Significantly shift the way resources are being deployed or invested in line with strategic intent.

• Share insights and observations with more senior executives relevant to the strategy’s viability, effective implementation, or capacity to match competitors’ moves.

the strategic leader may exert influence to achieve the following types of outcomes:

INFLUENCE & STRATEGY PROCESS

Influencing upwardIt is the ability to influence your boss & others in positions higher than you.

Influencing peerInfluencing one’s peers is also delicate.

Influencing downwardIt is the ability to influence employees lower than you.

The Multiple Directions of Strategic Influence

People often think of influencing in terms of persuasion: you have an idea or point to make, and it takes some particular interaction or series of interactions with people to persuade them to see it your

way. Your thoughts frequently focus on others:

What are they thinking?

Will they agree with my ideas?

What objections might they raise?

What do they hope to accomplish?

What piece of my thinking will be new for them?

What are they hoping to hear?

Developing Your Strategic Influence Capability

Start to influence other by focusing on yourselfBeing successful in the strategic influence process requires that people

trust you. So:1) Be clear to your own passion Sometimes we move through life and work trying to accomplish

tasks but not necessarily thinking through, knowing, and feeling the importance those tasks have to what is important to us.

2) Examine your credibility baseInfluencing others strategically is virtually impossible if you

don’t have credibility. Credibility comes through Expertise & Character.

Components for strategic influence

Building foundation with othersBuild relationships with others in the organization.

1) Engender Unnatural RelationshipsOne way in which leaders can harm their own credibility is by

trying to influence without first building the necessary relationships.

2) Be mindful of the political landscape. Politics is often viewed as a necessary evil in organizations.

Influence other by taking them in process.Involving others has benefits. It helps generate commitment to the final product when others have a say in developing it.

1) Create a Common UnderstandingWhen people participate in a process, they

immediately have access to much more information and develop broader perspectives than they would if they just heard of the final product in a presentation.

2) Create ChampionsAnother benefit of involving others in the process is

that people begin to share the same perspectives, beliefs, and enthusiasm about it. This enthusiasm makes them more likely to support each other and to assist in the influencing process by championing the idea throughout the organization. 3) Demonstrate That Others Are Valued Managers must give value to their employees ‘s thoughts & opinions.

Influence Others by Connecting at an Emotional Level

You also need to engage the hearts of others through:

1) Learn What Is Important to Others Realize that your assessment will be different from

that of others and that they will be starting from a different base that might invalidate your logic.2) Connect to the Organization’s Aspirations Having aspirations for a different and better future allows

work to have purpose and meaning, as people want to feel that their efforts are making a positive difference.

3) Use the Power of LanguageEmbedded in the section on aspiration is the notion

that aspirational language, in and of itself, can be influential.

Build and Sustain MomentumStrategic influence is not a onetime event; rather, it is

a process that begins with the foundation of understanding yourself and forming relationships. Leaders Build momentum through: 1) Set Appropriate Expectations

One of the challenges organizations experience with strategic investments is that these investments might not show results right away and this can run counter to people’s expectations.

2) Search Out and Celebrate the Successes

One way to deal with this threat is to set appropriate expectations. In addition, strategic leaders must search out, celebrate, and communicate the successes of efforts that are under way.

3) Send Consistent MessagesFinally, it’s important to consider the extent to which

you can influence or even stop other potentially distracting messages from being communicated.

4) Be Open to Influencestrategic leaders must create a climate where they not

only exert strategic leadership themselves but also encourage strategic leadership from others.

In this chapter, we have focused on strategic influencing. It cannot be isolated from thinking and acting. Skill in exercising strategic influence tactics and building momentum for the strategic initiative

also requires a combination of reflection and analysis to better understand where, when, and

why this skill should be applied. Finally, and perhaps most obviously, the overlap between

thinking and influencing is best exemplified when you involve others in the strategic process.

Conclusion