Let’s move to the fourth topic
You now know how to behave assertively and become an assertive communicator.
As an assertive communicator, you’re able to influence people in positive ways. The stronger your influence, the more impact you have on those around you. Let’s take a closer look at what it means to be influential and how you can maximize your influence.
This is a quote by Scott Adams, the creator of the acclaimed American cartoon strip Dilbert.
What does this quote tell you about being influential? The quote demonstrates that you can be a source of influence regardless of who you are and your personal or professional life. Influence is the ability to affect the thoughts, feelings, or behaviors of an individual or a group. You may already be influencing people without even being aware of it. Personal influence and eminence are two key types of influence. You will first explore personal influence. It is based on your personality and depends on how you engage with people. Let’s look at a story that demonstrates personal influence.
Pooja’s convincing power
Pooja is a senior programmer who leads projects.
Pooja was working on a demanding project and her team was struggling to cope with excessive workloads. In an informal meeting, Pooja informed team members that she too was experiencing the same problem.
She suggested that the team members record the time they spent on each task in a week. This would help them manage their time better and also help their project manager understand how their workload was affecting productivity. The idea met with immediate resistance from team members. Pooja had to find a way to convince the team of the benefits of her idea
Pooja, maintaining a friendly and supportive tone, invited people to share their reservations.
Some were worried about the motive of the exercise. Most complained that tracking their time would become another task to worry about.
A few didn’t want their manager to view their weekly records. They were not sure if they were utilizing their time properly.
Pooja acknowledged each of these worries. She explained that tracking time would help them determine how much work they could realistically handle.
So, in the future, they could plan their work better. She also offered to share a template the team could use to record time.
Gradually, people started seeing the benefits of Pooja’s suggestion. Everyone left the meeting willing to give the idea a shot. Pooja’s personal rapport with the team helped her to convince them to try her idea.
Pooja demonstrated her personal influence by proposing a solution and then used empathy and potential benefits to persuade her team to try the solution.
Perspective-taking
People do what they believe is in their best interest. It’s important for you to look at a situation from the other person’s perspective, and understand the impact of the situation on that person. If you can do this, you’ll be better equipped to exert personal influence. In Pooja’s story, you saw how she was able to