Influence

9 Questions to Help Your Team Create Vision

April 9, 2019

Think back to the last project you led. How did you begin? Were you successful getting people on board, or was it more like herding cats challenging than you’d planned? No matter what you’re leading, getting people to line up behind a vision is the first order of business when you take on a new […]

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Why Leaders Need to Understand the Difference between Influence and Manipulation

September 6, 2016

If you enact a leadership role, you have some measure of influence. And you also likely don’t see yourself as a manipulator. Do you know where influence stops and manipulation begins?  Read on to learn what two prominent authors who’ve conducted extensive research on leadership and change management have to say about this important distinction. […]

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Even Good Leaders Lose Against a Bad System

June 8, 2015

“The other day I had a revelation at work.” That’s my friend Sally, chatting with me at lunch. “Oh? How so?” That’s me, ever the inquisitor. Sally took a new job a few months ago and we were catching up on life. “Well, the VP of my division stopped me in the hall the other […]

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BS That Works – New Video Series

January 12, 2015

A few years ago, I read the book Influencer: The New Science of Leading Change. It remains one of my favorite business books of the last decade. The authors are part of a consulting firm called Vital Smarts and I’m subscribed to their newsletter. Vital Smarts has recently launch a series called The Behavioral Science […]

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How to Tend Your Company’s Cultural Garden

November 14, 2013

How much care is taken with your company’s values? Are they simply slogans on a banner in your lunchroom . . . or something deeply embedded in your organizational culture? And what happens when leaders make business decisions that fly in the face of those values? That’s what I write about in this month’s Smartblog […]

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Influence and Persuasion – A Reader’s List

August 26, 2013

When I read the book Influencer (now in its second edition) a few years ago, I became fascinated with the topic. So much so that I did quite a bit of research on influence and even put my own spin on the topic and created an e-book. (See sidebar to download your free copy.) One […]

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3 Signs You’re Ready to Step Up and Lead

July 22, 2013

Are you ready to take your leadership game to a higher level? If your answer is, “Yes! I’m in!” congratulations. Taking ownership of your desire for improved leadership skills is an important first step. Next up: you must convince others that you’ve got what it takes play on a bigger field. Be it through a […]

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Why Empowering Your Sales Team is Good Business

May 22, 2013

Guest Post by Lisa Kosak Note from Jennifer: I met Lisa at a GRAPE networking event and have enjoyed getting to know her. Lisa has years of “in the trenches” management experience and a true passion for employee engagement, so I invited her to share her leadership thoughts with you. Here, she shares the challenges […]

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Mapping the Passage to an Upside Down Organization

February 28, 2013

Guest post by Marilyn D. Jacobson, Ph.D To be competitive in this global environment, leaders must go against the tide to ignite and maintain momentum. I believe that organizations benefit from an engaged workforce, and the only way to achieve that is to flatten the organization structure.  The hierarchy gets in the way of change […]

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No Leadership Title? You Can Still Influence Change

August 9, 2012

A People Equation reader wrote to ask my advice on the following: Our small company is growing and we need to learn to use organizational tools like spreadsheets more effectively. I’m comfortable using these tools, but many of my peers aren’t. The tools are out of their comfort zone, but once they learn the system, […]

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