How to be influential

Cutting through the noise of work, so people hear you and your perspectives, has never been more challenging. It’s the people who have influencing skills that are able to counteract this environment. These people gain more control over their career because people listen to their thoughts and take action off the back of them. In this week’s podcast, Sarah and Helen dissect what it takes to be good at influencing and identify 5 key tips which make the biggest impact.

About this week’s episode:

As you know if you’re a regular listener or follower of Amazing If (thank you for that!), we talk a lot about Squiggly Careers! The change, ambiguity and fluidity of our careers is what shapes a Squiggly Career and whilst they can be full of opportunity, they can also leave you feeling lost. When we don’t have the skills to succeed in a Squiggly Career, it can feel like someone else is in control of our future.

That’s where influence comes in. Influence is one of the skills that can help increase your control over the direction your career takes. It can support you on a day-to-day basis with decisions at work and also more significantly with decisions about your future.

In this week’s podcast (head here for iTunes or search for Squiggly Careers wherever you listen to podcasts), we’re talking about what influence is and when we have both experienced it. We also talk about what gets in our way – for me, I’m far less influential if I’m tired or my ‘Senior People’ Confidence Gremlin pops up! We also share 5 actionable tips we know can help you if this is something you’d like to invest some time and energy in. I’ve summarised these tips below for you

1. Start with the other person/people not yourself.

2. Spend time building your internal network – do an influence and impact diagram