How To Influence Without Authority - 6 Key Tips


How To Influence Without Authority - 6 Key Tips. Graphic

The Fundamental Principle Of How To Influence Without Authority

We live in an interconnected world and knowing how to influence without authority is an increasingly important communictation skill.

There are many situations at work or in your personal life where you are not in charge, you do not have formal authority, and yet you need to resolve things and get things done.

A major focus of this site is on thinking skills and this article is part of a series on the art of persuasion, communication and change.

This material is grounded in my own business career over 45 years and in this article I am going to share some important tips on how to influence without authority, and it all starts with Newton's Third Law Of Motion:

"For every action there will ways be an equal and opposite reaction."



    The fundamental principle of how to influence without authority is mirrored reciprocation whereby you get what you really want by giving other people what they really want.

    This goes beyond the transactional and is about building a "win-win" that addresses our deepest needs as human beings.









6 Key Tips On How To Influence Without Authority

(1) Assume everyone is a potential ally


Assume everyone is a potential ally. Graphic


"We are more united and have far more in common with each other, than things that which divides us."

These words were spoken by UK MP Jo Cox in her maiden speech to Parliament in 2015. One year later she was murdered and her words went viral.

I recall becoming very aware of this when I first traveled to, lived and worked in various countries in South East Asia.

I noticed very quickly that despite our ethnic, cultural and other differences, at root we all want the same things. We value the same things. We see things in the same way.  We have more in common.

We all want to be loved, to be respected, we all want the best for our children, we all want to good health, at the most basic level we all want food, sex, shelter and money.

  • The best mindset to cultivate is one that assumes that everyone is a potential ally.
  • The magic words "I wonder if you can help me?" can yield surprisingly good results.






(2) Identify the trading currencies


Identify the trading currencies. Graphic


I want to introduce the idea of primary and secondary currencies. Understanding this and how it works will give you a significant edge in how to influence without authority.

  • We all naturally tend to think in terms of the tangible results that we want to achieve. These are things that can be seen and meaured such as facts, figures and money. This is primary currency.
  • But there is another dimension that is often over-looked and that is those things that are subjective and have high value and importance to the other person such as skills, knowledge and intelligence/information, or qualities such as reputation, recognition, influence, intangibles such as space, freedom, peace of mind etc. This is secondary currency.
  • There can be a very interesting and profitable interplay between primary and secondary currency and how one can be leveraged to greatly increase the other.
  • There is a deeper aspect to all this and that is understanding how to find hidden value [or margins] that can have a big impact on your and your potential allies lives.

I have written a comprehensive and practical article on this and I strongly recomend that you read this because it will considerably  expand your understanding of how to influence without authority.

How To Benefit From The Unseen Margins

These tips on primary and secondary currencies can give you:

  • Leverage in your relationships with others.
  • Insight into finding hidden value.
  • Enhanced skills in how to influence without authority.

Example:

Because I am a businessman I automatically seek primary currency in all of my interactions with other business people. In my area of business, which is the fuel sector, I build long-term relationships with key people.

  • One of the ways I do this is by focusing on and meeting the personal needs of my seller or my buyer. I do this in addition to focusing on their business and organisational needs.
  • I look closely at how they are being impacted by the situation, and I  try to find out their secondary currency needs and requirements.
  • For example, are they looking for a someone they can really talk to, are they seeking respect, do they want to entertained, do they want to be educated and informed?

I always ask myself: "How can I help this person?"

  • Addressing people's secondary currency needs inevitably unlocks the primary currency that I seek. But it often this takes time.
  • I am always prepared to take the long view and build up a large balance of secondary currency with the other person or party. This means that when a suitable opportunity arises for them to reciprocate, they are likely to do so on a far bigger scale than they might otherwise have done.

There is an important business relationship I have with a major supplier, and over the past 2 years I have undertaken research projects for him at at the expense of a lot of my time. anMore recently I have undertaken a major marketing initiative for him - which was also time consuming.

And here's the key point, I did all this knowing full well that what he asked me to do was very unlikely to succeed, but he was committed to these activities and so I gained some major goodwill with this guy for having tried.

There will come a point when I can call in these favours by asking for more favourable terms on a major fuel transaction. A few additional points on the discount structure could mean a large amount of additional money to me.



    Not all value is easy to see, and finding previously unseen value is incredibly valuable.








(3) Clarify what you want, when and why

Clarify what you want. Graphic

It is important to be very clear in your own mind about what you want from a potential ally.

[a] Separate organisational goals from personal goals.

  • There are different contexts in which you may be seeking to influence people and your approach needs to tailored accordingly.
  • There is a difference between organisational goals and personal goals.
  • The other person may respond positively and support our personal goals but be reluctant to suppport your organisational goals if they do not align with the other person's organisational objectives.

[b] Be clear about priorities and timescales

  • You also need to be clear about your priorities and the order of your priorities, and timescales.
  • Are you able to play the long game - or are you under pressure to achieve your goals quickly?

[c] Is your goal a one-off or a repeat?

  • Can you afford to risk burning a relationship to achieve an important one time goal?
  • Or are you looking for a longer term relationship with potential repeated involvement from your contact?

Your clarity about these points will shape your approach to engaging with the other person.

Example:

As I have outlined above, I am always seeking secondary currency opportunities that I can leverage into significant amounts of primary currency.

My specific goals are introductions to new potential high quality buyers or sellers, and to attract luctrative new business opportunities.

I am very clear and specific about my commercial objectives.

My timescales are usually long-term and strategic and I am prepared to play the long game.






(4) Building and utilising relationships


Building and utilising relationships. Graphic


[a] Build credibility & trust

  • The comedian Steve Martin, once said that his advice for aspiring entertainers was to “...be so good they can’t ignore you...”. 
  • A well earned reputation for knowing what you are talking about will open doors and attract support.
  • Even more importantly, is a reputation for trust and integrity coupled with a preparedness to share your knowledge and experience.

[b] How can I add value to this person or this situation?

  • One of the key questions to ask yourself is: "What does the other person or people really want and how can I help them get it?"
  • Thinks carefully in terms of primary and secondary currencies.

[c] Mobilize your allies

  • In an organisational context you will benefit from the support of others with whom you have trust and credibility and who share your goals.
  • You will benefit from emotional, practical and political support.

[d] Drop your ego

  • An important, and sometimes difficult, lesson to learn in how to influence without authority is to give the other person the credit for the achievement of your goal.
  • It is the result that matters and allowing the other person to look good can be an important part of your success equation.
  • "High EQ and low ego" is an effective motto.

Example:

Each of the 4 points above and the 4 points below encapsulate my whole approach to influencing people over whom I have no authority.

Over time it has become a mindset to building a business.






(5) Understand the other person's situation


Understand the other person's situation. Graphic


[a] What is affecting the other person?

It is useful to understand - or attempt to understand - the influences, pressures and requirements of a potential ally.

Once you focus on this you can directly and indirectly ascertain a lot of information about the other person's situation and especially about what is important to them.

[b] Where is the common ground and what is non-negotiable?

  • Finding the common ground will show where your interests are aligned, and you can build on this.
  • Understanding the non-negotiable areas enables you to demonstrate that you understand the other persons' constraints and boundaries and to steer away from possible confrontation.

[c] Listen hard and seek to understand

  • Listening is fundamental for all effective communication.
  • The essence of how to influence without authority is seeking to understand and listening mindfully to really hear the other person’s needs.
  • You have to be continually seeking to up your game and keep asking yourself: "What do they see that I don’t see?”

[d] Only bring practical solutions

  • The other person most likely has enough of their own issues and problems to deal with, so bringing practical solutions to the table that are aligned with your common goals will help build your credibility and move you closer to your objectives.






(6) Knowing when the time is right to trade


Knowing when the time is right to trade. Graphic


  • You have to earn the right to trade currency with the other person.
  • Once you have undertaken the analysis of the other person's situation and what is important to them, identified trading currencies and where necessary improved your relationship, then (and only then) are you in a position to trade with the other person - when the time is right.
  • The timing will dictated by their attraction and need for what you have to offer balanced against your need for what they have to offer.






The power of influence. Graphic







Free Downloads:

Influence Without Authority - Summary Notes

Influence Without Authority - Full Notes


Further Reading:

Persuasion

[1] The Art Of Persuasion The One Fundamental Principle - Create A Win-Win

[2] The Art Of Persuasion Advanced Communication Skills - Gaining BuyIn

[3] The Art Of Persuasion Planning For Success - Here's How To Do It!


Change

Getting From A to B Is Not Aways A Straight Line

Group Culture - The Invisible Software That Rules Your Life

Change Questions To Change Your Outcomes


Communication

How To Influence without Authority - 6 Key Tips


Return from "Change Questions" to: Communication Persuasion and Change

Or to: Walking The Talk


Contact me













English Chinese (Traditional) Russian French German Italian Spanish Vietnamese



LATEST ARTICLES

  1. Everything Is Connected And Why You Don't Feel It

    ...And Why It Matters As human beings we are skating on very thin ice with our sense of self and certainty about "how things are" and what we like to think of as reality:

    - What if everything we think…

    Read More

  2. Who Is In Charge Of Your Brain?

    How Not To Be Stupid. Who is in charge of your brain? This is not a silly questions. It matters because the outcomes that you experience in your life are determined by how you respond to the events th…

    Read More

  3. How To Be A Winner On A Very Large Scale

    The Incredible Benefits Of Selective Attention. This is not a typical article about how to be a winner. We are not going to talk about goal setting, the importance of habits, the power of focus and al…

    Read More

  4. The Metagame Approach To Life

    How To Achieve Your Biggest Objectives. The metagame approach to life is all about winning and achieving your biggest objectives by: - Understanding the bigger picture
    - Being better by doing things d…

    Read More

  5. Shantideva - The Way Of The Bodhisattva

    Walking The Path Of Compassion. Shantideva the 8th century Indian Buddhist sage is famous for his treatise "The Way of the Bodhisattva" delivered as an extended teaching to the monks of Nalanda monast…

    Read More

  6. Reframing History - Deconstruction And Discussion Not Destruction

    History is always about context, not imposing our own moral values on the past. For those of us fortunate enough to live within western democracies, we are living in an age where a vociferous and into…

    Read More

  7. Tao Te Ching - Connecting To Your True Source Of Power.

    How To Be Lived By The Tao. The Tao Te Ching is one of those books that many people read, few understand, and even fewer put into practice. The only way to know the Tao is to experience it, and it is…

    Read More

  8. How Things Really Are - The Inbuilt Design Flaws

    Chaos, Disorder And Decay Is The Natural Order Of Things. Nobody has the perfect life. We all struggle and strive to attain health, wealth and personal happiness. Yet these three big areas: our health…

    Read More

  9. Intuition Or Anxiety - Are There Angels Or Devils Crawling Here?

    How To Tell The Difference Between Intuition and Anxiety. How do you know whether the voice of your intuition is real or just the product of your inner anxiety? Several months ago I was having a drink…

    Read More

  10. What Is Truth - How To Tell A Partial Truth From The Whole Truth?

    How the truth and nothing but the truth is often not the whole truth. My great aunty Flo broke her arm and died. It is true that she broke her arm in 1923. It is also true that she died in 1949. But t…

    Read More

  11. Duality And Life Beyond Your Thinking Mind

    Duality and life beyond your thinking mind focuses on the limitations of time, foreground and background, duality and "stuckness". The first aspect of duality and life beyond your thinking mind focuse…

    Read More

  12. The Conscious Mind Is Limited - Be Aware And Be Prepared

    Being aware is the first stage of being prepared. The conscious mind is limited in so many ways. There are some who would argue that there is no such thing as conscious thought and that it is represen…

    Read More

  13. Your Inner Map Of Reality - Here's Why You Think The Way You Do

    The big picture of how your inner map of reality creates your feelings, thoughts, and behaviours. Your inner map of reality is based on the filters of your own ethnic, national, social, family and rel…

    Read More

  14. The Failure Of Cancel Culture - Suppression Not Engagement

    Why we need to wear our beliefs lightly and develop negative capability. Throughout history people have campaigned to fight beliefs, ideologies, and injustices that they perceived to be oppressive, di…

    Read More

  15. 4 Big Reasons Why We Get Stuck In Our Attempts At Personal Change

    Most People Spend Their Entire Life Imprisoned Within The Confines Of Their Own Thoughts. This first of the 4 big reasons why we get stuck is, in my view, the most important. The "self-help industry…

    Read More

  16. How Do I Change And Why Is It So Hard?

    We Would Rather Die Than Change, And We Usually Do In my experience, the vast majority of people who say they want to change don’t change. Most people reading this won’t change because they don’t real…

    Read More

  17. The Illusion Of A Separate Self - Windows 11 With Self Awareness!

    Beyond the content of your mind you are so much more than you think you are. When we talk of "myself" this is the conventional way of referring to our self image which is in fact the ego's constructio…

    Read More

  18. Finite And Infinite Games - Dazed, Confused & Ultimately Transcendent

    This is not an instruction manual, it is a wake up call! Over this past week I have read Professor James Carse's highly regarded "Finite And Infinite Games - A Vision Of Life As Play And Possibility"

    Read More

  19. The Gap And The Gain - How Your Brain Sabotages Your Happiness

    How Your Lizard Brain Sabotages Your Happiness We are hardwired to measure our progress in any and all areas of life where we have goals and aspirations. We can't not do it. But what we measure and ho…

    Read More

  20. How To Wake Up - 4 Simple Practices To Help You Wake Up Now

    So What Exactly Does It Mean to Wake Up - What Is "Enlightenment"? There is nothing magical, mystical or mysterious about waking up we’re actually having glimpses of enlightenment all the time. Enligh…

    Read More

  21. Situational Communication - Different Strokes For Different Folks

    Situational communication is about taking account of 3 often ignored factors about the other person. You are a situational communicator when you recognise that effective communication is not an event…

    Read More

  22. How To Influence Without Authority - 6 Key Tips

    The secret to how to influence without authority is that you get what you really want by giving other people what they really want. We live in an interconnected world and knowing how to influence with…

    Read More

  23. Change Questions To Change Your Outcomes

    Asking The Right Questions Is Critical For A Successful Change. Every time we initiate a significant change - whether in our personal life or in an organisation - we will most likely over-estimate our…

    Read More

  24. Group Culture - The Invisible Software That Rules Your Life

    Group culture is: "How we do things round here". We like to see ourselves as free agents making our own choices and living authentically but the reality is that The Matrix has many layers and we are u…

    Read More

  25. Why Getting From A to B Is Not Aways A Straight Line

    In circumstances of significant change, the progress from A to B will not be in a straight line. We run our lives largely on auto-pilot. In most circumstances your experience of getting from A to B is…

    Read More

  26. The Art Of Persuasion Planning For Success - Here's How To Do It!

    To be successful in the art of persuasion you must ensure that certain things happen. To be successful in the art of persuasion you must establish a framework of what has to happen to get you to that…

    Read More

  27. The Art Of Persuasion Advanced Communication Skills - Gaining Buyin

    Create The Environment Where They Want To Buyin to Your Proposal In order to build the win-win you have to uncover what it is that the other person really wants or needs, and to do that you have to as…

    Read More

  28. The Art Of Persuasion The One Fundamental Principle - Create A Win-Win

    The art of persuasion is based on the simple idea that you get what you want by enabling the other party to get what they want. Being a nice friendly person with good inter-personal skills may be a go…

    Read More

  29. Communication Persuasion And Change - Key Skills To Survive & Succeed

    It's not the strongest that survive, nor the most intelligent, but those who are most responsive to change, the most persuasive, and the best communicators. We are living in an age of unprecedented ch…

    Read More

  30. The Eisenhower Box - What Is Important Is Seldom Urgent

    What Is Important Is Seldom Urgent And What Is Urgent Is Seldom Important. The Eisenhower Box is a time management and decision-making model devised by President Dwight Eisenhower to help him prioriti…

    Read More



Get new posts by email:









Zen-Tools.Net





Support This Site