Last Updated: Mar 26, 2018
Want to be a better leader? Want to be able to influence more people? Here are four things you need to do.
A major driver of being influential is practice.
If you have ever played a sport, musical instrument or any similar pursuit that takes muscle memory, you know that improvement never occurs without practice. For example, let’s say you have been playing golf for 10+ years and you’re tired of your family and friends telling you what to do. You decide to hire a coach.
The first step that coach is going to ask you to take is to show your swing. They want to observe your style. After you swing the golf club several times, the coach begins to pick it apart. This is where some of my clients will give up.
Your subconscious tells you that if it doesn’t feel right or comfortable, it must be wrong. But if you take the advice of your golf coach and practice, suddenly your swing improves. Enhancing your influence is the same concept.
Everyone hopes to maintain a reputation that communicates trustworthiness, confidence and, most importantly, influence. Most want a quick fix, but no one can be more influential after one coaching or training session.
Being influential through every word you speak and every movement you make, Monday to Monday, takes deliberate practice and a lot of hard work. That’s it. You can’t read how-to’s in a book or rely on your title and comfort level to be influential.
The hard truth is that being influential is a lifelong journey of practicing through day-to-day interactions. The good news is that we communicate 24/7. Not having time to practice is not an excuse.
RELATED: 6 Keys to Influencing People, Not Manipulating Them
Harvard Business Review explained this concept of deliberate practice: “It entails considerable, specific, and sustained efforts to do something you can’t do well – or even at all. Research across domains shows that it’s only by working at what you can’t do that you turn into the expert you want to become.”
Therefore, get comfortable being uncomfortable. Feeling uncomfortable is a completely normal reaction any time we start practicing a new skill that is outside our comfort zone or beyond our current competence.
Let’s return to our golf example: How many people do you think go back to their old form because the new swing is too uncomfortable and changing their swing requires too much work? A lot! How many people have I known who stopped practicing influence skills because it felt a bit awkward or uncomfortable? A lot!
This week, take on the four-step commitment!
Listen to Influence Redefined
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