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Author: Victoria Cohen, Credit: Amy Shannon
Our Executive HR Women’s Network recent session on “Become a Top HR Influencer: Nine Techniques to Increase Your Impact and Persuasiveness,” led by Amy Shannon, President at Pinnacle Leadership Solutions, was nothing short of inspiring and insightful. The session focused on equipping HR professionals with the tools they need to become trusted and respected business partners within their organizations in order to gain the influence needed to make important changes within their organizations.
Building Trust:
To influence effectively, trust is paramount. This can be established through credibility, data-driven decision-making, reliability, honesty, and a genuine concern for the greater good.
Adapting to Influence Targets’ Style:
Understanding how your target audience makes decisions, treats others, and handles differences allows you to tailor your approach for maximum impact.
Connecting Goals and Values:
Demonstrating how your objectives align with the goals of others creates a collaborative environment where mutual success is the focus. Consider how you can reach your goal, while helping others reach theirs.
Surrounding with Information:
Providing credible and trusted information empowers your audience to make informed decisions.
Behaving “As If”
Inviting your target audience to act as if they’re already committed helps bridge the gap between intention and action.
Logic: Convincing through factual, logical, and step-by-step reasoning.
Inspiration: Eliciting emotional responses by painting a vivid picture of what could be.
Participation: Guiding others to draw their own conclusions or do an action through strategic questioning.
Uplift: Making individuals feel valued and appreciated, setting the stage for effective communication.
Deal: Offering a mutually beneficial exchange, a “this for that” scenario.
Favor: Directly asking for what you need or want.
Collective: Leveraging the perspectives of others to influence.
Policy: Demonstrating authority based on established principles or rules.
Force: Exercising power when necessary.
It’s crucial to remember that the effectiveness of these strategies depends on the specific situation and audience. Each approach has its time and place, and overuse or misuse can lead to unintended consequences. It’s also quite effective to use a combination of the different techniques in order to persuade and influence, depending on the situation at hand.
Amy’s presentation brought these techniques to life, showcasing her expertise through interactive exercises. Her use of the two techniques – participation and inspiration – stood out during her presentation, including offering chocolates to members who volunteered for role-playing scenarios and answered questions, was both memorable and effective.
Overall, the session left attendees empowered and equipped with invaluable techniques to elevate their influence as HR professionals. The emphasis on building trust, adapting to individual styles, and aligning goals and values resonated deeply, providing a solid foundation for effective influence. The nine techniques presented offer a versatile toolkit, ensuring HR leaders can navigate diverse scenarios with confidence. As we apply these newfound skills, we are poised to drive positive, impactful change within our organizations and communities.