Page 18 - The Power to Change Anything

The Power to Change Anything 7

book), the chronic influence failures of the leaders of Detroit
auto companies resulted in the cumulative dismissal of tens of
thousands of career employees. Yet at the same time, Toyota
added tens of thousands of jobs not just in Japan, but in North
America. Toyota has grown consistently while U.S. auto com-
panies have declined because Toyota’s leaders have perfected
a system of influence that engages all employees in continu-
ous improvement.

CHOOSING INFLUENCE

The reason most of us pray for serenity rather than doggedly
seeking a new solution to what ails us is that, left to our own
devices, we don’t come up with the big ideas that solve the
problems that have us stumped. We fall into the serenity trap
every time we seek solace when we should be seeking a solu-
tion. To bring this problem to its knees, we first have to see our-
selves as influencers. This revised self-image calls for a
deviation from the existing norm. Rarely do people say that they
currently are, or that one day they will be, an influencer.
“When I grow up, I’m going to move to New York City,
where I plan on being a professional influencer!”
“Who me? I work for IBM. I’m the chief influence
officer.”
“Yes, I’m married with two children, so I guess I’m work-
ing pretty much full time as an influencer.”
We typically don’t think of ourselves as influencers be-
cause we fail to see that the common thread running
through most of the triumphs and tragedies of our lives is our
ability to exert influence. If we did, we’d invest enormous
energy in looking for new and better ways to enhance our
influence repertoire. For instance, every time we tried to exert
influence over others with a few well-chosen words and noth-
ing happened, we’d stop talking and try something new. Every
time we tried an incentive and it failed, we’d try something