Page 51 - Roy W. Rice - CEO Material How to Be a Leader in Any Organization-McGraw-Hill (2009)

32 • CEO Material: How to Be a Leader in Any Organization

A generalist goes beyond comprehending all functions but includes
the skills of influencing, problem solving, taking “No,” saying “No,” man-
aging meetings, delegating, and dealing with office politics and bullies.

Be Able to Influence People Who Don’t
Think Like You or Report to You

Except for gossiping, we spend more time trying to change people’s minds
than anything else, according to Howard Gardner, Harvard University psy-
chology professor. You will need persuasion skills to get your ideas heard and
accepted; recruit and retain people; talk to bosses, customers, colleagues,
and peers (and later the media, Wall Street analysts, and the board of direc-
tors); and deal with your spouse, children, extended family, and friends.
To persuade, before going into a situation, think about the change
you want to make, consider the other person’s point of view, take into
account the resistance you’ll likely receive, gather as much data as you
can, and keep all this information in your head (or on paper). Then go
talk to the person you need to influence and ask

■ What do you want to achieve, retain, and avoid?
■ Who, how, when, why, and what will contribute to making a
decision?
■ What are you willing and able to exchange, give up, barter, or
negotiate?

Take what you learned from that person, add it to what you know
from other analyses, and then present some options that meet what you
both need, want, or expect.
Purposefully influencing is just thought-out conversation. If you
make sense to people and you are talking with integrity, people will pay
attention and possibly change to your way of thinking. It isn’t about hog-
tying people to do something they don’t want to do. But it does mean
being able to find out what they want and how they want it and giving it
to them in as close to that manner as possible.