Influence without Authority

The Influence Model

To work well in contemporary organizations, you need to be able to wield influence. The essence of leadership at any organizational level is to elicit cooperation, since even leaders with authority rarely have enough power to force people to cooperate. Cooperation is a two-way street, and influence is a kind of exchange. To achieve your objectives, you need collaborators. To enlist them, plan ahead so you can help those you seek to influence achieve their own objectives.

As you try to exercise influence, you may encounter internal and external barriers. There are internal barriers to influence, which are usually more difficult, obstinate blockages than the external barriers are.

They include:

• Ignorance of the nature of influence: which is, fundamentally, that both parties give and take – in fact, you must give in order to take.
• Destructive attitudes that prevent you from recognizing the truth, especially about yourself and those you seek to influence.
• Fear of what the other party might say or do.
• Failure to explain to others how they could benefit from helping you.

Critical external barriers to...