If you want to influence others,
the first two questions you must answer are:
Where are they now?
Where do I want them to be?
In the absence of thinking through
these two questions you are likely to end up simply arguing with others and
feeling frustrated. Getting clear on these two questions enables you to plan a
constructive process of communication and education that inches them closer and
closer to where you'd like them to be.
Exercise
Develop a rich, positive and constructive
understanding of what it will take to increase comfort and elicit commitment
from key individuals and groups. Clarity that will help you apply the other
tools of influence.
After reading the other tools of
Influence in this section of the app, and as you interact more with each
individual or group, add to these sheets to create an ongoing influence plan.
Tips
Resist the urge to lump everyone together
into large groups. If you find yourself having multiple answers to
some of the questions posed above, consider breaking groups into smaller
subsets or going down to the individual level.
When thinking about level of
commitment, it is natural to imagine that you will be moving individuals and
groups from lower levels of commitment toward greater commitment. But that is
not always the case. For example, you could have someone who is committed to
advocating or leading the change, but their visible role creates unease in
others. The reasons for this could be myriad and through no fault of the
individual. But it doesn't matter why. It is just the way it is. You may need
to influence that enthusiastic individual to limit their advocacy or visible
leadership to only a subset of others. Or, you might need to convince them to play
a smaller part, or simply stand aside and let it happen. This can be a
difficult conversation, but you have to do it for the success of the change.
Beware! The individual we are talking about here could be you!