What’s Your Influencing Style?

While influencing others has always been a valuable managerial skill, today’s collaborative organizations make it essential. Success depends on one's ability to effectively influence and impact others’ ideas, opinions and actions to achieve his/her objectives.

Let’s take a minute to remember how often we have to influence people who don’t even report to us or we have no direct authority on. Being aware of our influencing style and having an ability to recognize it when used by others is critical in today’s fast-paced work environments.

Have you ever thought about how you influence others? Tactics you use?

There are 5 distinct influencing styles identified by researchers and here are questions that may help to identify your own style:

1.Rational: Do you use arguments supported by data and facts to present your ideas and to persuade others?

2.Assertive: Do you rely on your personal authority to influence others and you insist that your ideas are heard and considered, even when others disagree? Do you challenge the ideas of others when they don’t agree with yours?

3.Negotiator: Do you look for compromises and ready to make tradeoffs for greater benefit? If necessary, would you delay the discussion until you come to agreement?

4.Inspirer: Do you encourage others by communicating shared mission and inspire everyone on board?

5.Bridger: Do you attempt to influence others by connecting with them via building personal relationships?

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We all have a dominant influencing style when working with others. And we also have an unconscious tendency to apply our preferred style in business conversations even if it doesn’t work. However, we need to have flexibility and be able to change and adapt our influencing style based on the situation we're in.

Gaining this awareness will help you understand when the style you’re using isn’t working and how to apply the one that will work.

What’s your influencing style? And what are you going to do about it?