Leadership strategies: build your sphere of influence

Abstract

Purpose

Reinforce the importance of influence skills, collaborative decision‐making and flexible leadership styles in today's complex business environment.

Design/methodology/approach

Introduce research conducted by Robert Cialdini, Ph.D. on influence and explain how these skills can be applied through examples and quotes from senior executives.

Findings

Influence skills help leaders get colleagues on board for change initiatives, access resources, guide teams, develop shared goals, reduce resistance, encourage teamwork beyond functional boundaries, win support from those with competing agendas, empower others and sell ideas to the boss.

Practical implications

When leaders harness the power of influence, they create a shared sense of responsibility, improve communications, encounter fewer problems with change‐implementation, discover more innovation and creativity, experience less attrition and less resistance while gaining access to more information for better decision making.

Originality/value

Leaders benefit from recognizing the importance of influence skills and taking the steps to increase their sphere of influence by nurturing a culture in which these skills can flourish.

Citation

Kaufman, B. (2011), "Leadership strategies: build your sphere of influence", Business Strategy Series, Vol. 12 No. 6, pp. 315-320. https://doi.org/10.1108/17515631111185950