{"id":9309,"date":"2019-01-30T17:19:48","date_gmt":"2019-01-30T23:19:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.watermarklearning.com\/blog\/?p=9309"},"modified":"2024-09-05T16:56:44","modified_gmt":"2024-09-05T21:56:44","slug":"influencing-with-authority","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.watermarklearning.com\/blog\/influencing-with-authority\/","title":{"rendered":"Influencing with Authority: Management, You Need Influencing Skills, Too!"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"InfluencingInfluencing skills<\/a> in today\u2019s work environment are central to getting anything done. Consider what you do day in and day out. How much of your time is spent trying to get someone to think, feel, or do something they aren\u2019t already thinking, feeling, or doing?<\/p>\n

We often think of the demand for influencing skills as necessarily going hand-in-hand with a lack of authority. That is, we see the need to be able to influence as a result of <\/em>not having authority.<\/p>\n

But does having authority really mitigate the need for influencing? If I am in a position of authority, am I able to rely less on my influencing skills to be effective when working with others?<\/p>\n

I don\u2019t think so. In fact, I\u2019d suggest that whether or not one is in a position of authority has nothing to do with the need to influence. I see the need to influence as an inherent characteristic of contemporary work environments. These days, those who are most effective when working with others gets things done through influence, even those with<\/em> authority.<\/p>\n

Increasingly, the question is not, \u201cHow do I influence without authority<\/em>?<\/a>\u201d but rather, \u201cHow do I influence, whatever my position is?\u201d Even for those with authority, influencing is the most effective way to compel others think, act, or feel something other than what they\u2019re thinking, acting, or feeling.<\/p>\n

What is it about today\u2019s work world that has cultivated the need for influencing skills for people of all political positions? I see three dynamics that most of us experience in our daily lives that characterize today\u2019s work environment in which things get done almost exclusively through influence. These are factors that contribute to the diminishing importance of authority and the rising need for influence as a means of compelling others.<\/p>\n

Social Media<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Nowhere is influencing more clearly illustrated than in social media. Whether something as dramatic as Arab Spring, or something on a smaller scale like a restaurant getting a boost from a lot of 5-star ratings, influencing is what makes social media work. Influence in social media is fleeting and may only last a few weeks, days, or even hours, but we are influenced to drive certain routes, attend particular events, patronize certain stores, and innumerable other things every day.<\/p>\n

Where is the authority in these environments? There isn\u2019t any, of course. In many ways, we are being conditioned to respond to the whim of whatever and whoever is trending at the moment. We don\u2019t question who is making decisions about what\u2019s important or not; we just follow or chime in as we choose. Our regular interactions with social media normalize this authority-less environment and makes hierarchy anywhere less palatable.<\/p>\n

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