Princess Miralyn C.

Mercado BSBA MA 3-2

7 Ways to Build Influence in the Workplace

Influence has countless benefits, and is a particularly lucrative asset in the business world. Here are seven ways to build your influence!
By:Jason DeMers Founder and CEO, AudienceBloom

Influence is power. No matter who you are, where you work, or what your professional goals are, achieving more influence in the workplace is
critical for success. Gaining influence on a team can help you work together more effectively. Gaining influence in a supervisory position can
make you more respected and appreciated. Gaining influence in a meeting can make your voice more likely to be heard and acknowledged.

Influence has countless advantages, but gaining that influence, like learning a skill, takes time and effort. Fortunately, there are many strategies
you can use to cultivate this characteristic.

1. Build Trust With Your Co-Workers. Influence is most often and most easily carried through trust. Only when a co-worker trusts you will he
or she be open to your influence. If you're in a higher position in the company hierarchy, it's possible to convey a demand or assign a task that
must be carried out by your employee, but true influence suggests a free will component. If you assigned the same task but didn't carry a higher
authority, would your employee still listen to you and believe that the task is necessary to execute?

This hypothetical may not be relevant to your situation, but regardless of your position in comparison to the positions of your co-workers, if you
want a healthy and influential working relationship, you're going to have to cultivate trust. The easiest way to do that is to be open and honest, no
matter what. State your opinions, disclose your apprehensions, and don't keep secrets. It's as simple as that.

2. Cultivate Reliability Through Consistency. Inconsistency is the fastest way to ruin your reputation. Consistency, on the other hand, is slow
but sure--if you execute your tasks effectively and on time, day after day, eventually people will come to rely on you. The same is true when you
execute a consistent style of leadership, setting consistent expectations with your employees and giving consistent rewards for good work. People
will come to rely on your behavior and expect you to be a consistent performer.

That consistency is vital for building influence. Otherwise, you'll have an air of unpredictability about you, and people won't know whether to trust
or impugn your suggestions. If you're consistently motivated by the same principles, people will trust that your ideas are solid and reliable as an
extension, and that will make it easier to get people on your side. Consistency is especially important when you're in a lower position, since it
demonstrates a degree of dedication.

3. Be Assertive, Not Aggressive. Being assertive is the only way to get your ideas noticed, especially when you're competing with others for
visibility, such as in a meeting. However, there's a difference between being assertive and being aggressive. You'll need to present your thoughts
and ideas with a high degree of confidence, indicating your convictions, but any excessive degree of confidence could be mistaken for needless
arrogance, which will compromise your perceived authority. Tread carefully, especially when you're unfamiliar with your audience or if you're
presenting your thoughts on an area outside of your expertise.

This assertiveness should extend as a general quality to all your interactions, regardless of whether you're speaking to employees above, below,
or at your level, and regardless of the conversation format. Being assertive, so long as you truly believe in what you're saying, is a way to cultivate
a reputation of authority and earn the ability to influence your peers and employees.

4. Be Flexible. Flexibility is also important. While this may seem like it conflicts with the need to be assertive--after all, it's difficult to assert
yourself fully if you're open to changing your opinion--being too stringent or adamant in your beliefs will work against you. In this case, people will
come to see you as a stubborn, immovable monolith, incapable of believing in anyone other than yourself. This can decrease the respect people
have for you and compromise your overall influence.

Instead, work actively to show your flexibility while holding firm on your beliefs. Negotiations and compromises are often the best ways to do this.
Stay rigid in your beliefs when someone contradicts you, but work with them to find a mutually acceptable solution. When people believe you to be
flexible, they'll be more likely to listen to you even if they're stubborn in their own right.

5. Be Personal. A little personality goes a long way, especially when you're trying to build influence in the workplace. This is especially important
when you're in a higher position, as a boss or a supervisor. If you isolate yourself, or try to build your perceived authority by distancing yourself
from the others, it might only serve to alienate you and put you in a position where you're viewed with distrust or even resentment.
Instead, go out of your way to have personal exchanges with your employees and co-workers. You don't need to build friendships, but there's no
reason why you can't get to know each other. Personal working relationships are important for cultivating a sense of team, and if people see you
as another person on the team, they'll be more receptive when you disclose your ideas or opinions. The key here is to seem imperfect,
approachable, and human.

6. Focus on Actions Rather Than Argument. Trying to build influence through words is useless. Even a leader with perfect diction and a
background in rhetorical strategy can't hope to win the influence of his or her peers through speeches and arguments alone. If you're going to
build influence in the workplace, you need to speak through your actions, or at the very least have the actions and history to back up whatever it is
you're saying.

7. Listen to Others. Finally, remember that influence is a two-way street. The more you believe in the people around you and incorporate their
ideas into your vision, the more they'll believe in your ideas and incorporate them into their work habits. If you want to build up this kind of
relationship with your co-workers and employees, you first have to listen. Listen to everyone's opinion, and encourage people to speak up,
especially if they don't often voice their opinions. Take time to respect and acknowledge everybody's opinion, and let people know that you value
them.
This creates an atmosphere of mutual trust, mutual respect, and mutual teamwork. If you're spearheading the initiative to build this environment,
they'll come to see you as a leader, and your opinions will naturally be heard, acknowledged, and respected as a result.

Influence is an extraordinary asset in the professional world, but remember, your goal here should be to become more respected in the workplace,
not to increase the likelihood of getting others to do your bidding. One is a respectable journey to greater prominence and productivity, while the
other is simply a Machiavellian power trip.

The opinions expressed here by Inc.com columnists are their own, not those of Inc.com. PUBLISHED ON: JAN 15, 2015

Princess Miralyn C. Mercado BSBA MA 3-2

Five Steps to Increase Your Influence
Susan Tardanico, Contributor DEC 21, 2011 @ 10:23 AM

When was the last time you thought about how you influence others -- how you change minds, shape opinions, move others to act?

The ability to influence is one of the essential skills for leaders at all levels. Its more art than science, and it can be tough to get your arms
around. But the bottom line is that influence matters. And as we continue to morph (at breakneck speed) into an interconnected,
interdependent, increasingly global workplace, it will matter more.

In traditional hierarchical organizations, power is typically based on position. The higher you are on the organization chart, the more
power you wield. There are clear, top-down rules where the person at the top calls the shots. The person with the power has the
influence.

Today, organizations are moving toward flatter, matrixed and team-based models. The theory is that with change and complexity comes
the need to be more nimble, more inclusive of diverse thought, and more collaborative. In this model, power is more about ones ability to
influence and get things done outside of traditional reporting lines. In other words, the person with the influence has the power.

To be an effective influencer, you need both substance and style. Without a solid foundation of credibility, even the most interpersonally
adept leaders will fall short. On the flip side, highly credible people can struggle with influence if they dont understand the interpersonal
dynamics at play.

In 2009 and 2010, Discovery Learning, Inc. and Innovative Pathways conducted research to identify and measure influence styles. They
created five categories:

Asserting: you insist that your ideas are heard and you challenge the ideas of others
Convincing: you put forward your ideas and offer logical, rational reasons to convince others of your point of view
Negotiating: you look for compromises and make concessions to reach outcomes that satisfy your greater interest
Bridging: you build relationships and connect with others through listening understanding and building coalitions
Inspiring: you advocate your position and encourage others with a sense of shared purpose and exciting possibilities

Each of these styles can be effective, depending upon the situation and people involved. A common mistake is to use a one-size-fits-all
approach. Remember that influencing is highly situational.

Here are five steps to increase your influence.

1) Understand your influencing style. It all begins with self-awareness. Whats your dominant style? Do you assert, convince,
negotiate, bridge or inspire? Do you tend to apply the same approach to every situation and individual? Understanding your natural
inclination is a good place to start. If youre not sure, consider taking a quick assessment. The Influence Style Indicator by Discovery
Learning is a good one.

2) Take stock of your situation. Who are the critical stakeholders you need to win over to achieve an objective or overcome an
obstacle? What influencing style might be more effective as you interact with them? For example, if youre dealing with a hard-nosed
CFO, consider using a convincing approach, which is based in logic, data and expertise. If youre in a crisis situation where people are
relying on you to be decisive and fast on your feet, an asserting style may be more effective. If youre working cross-functionally and
need to win the support of a peer, a bridging or negotiating style may be the way to go.

3) Identify your gaps. Once you understand your natural orientation and the appropriate styles to influence those around you, figure
out where youre on solid ground and where you need to shift gears and use a different approach to be more effective

4) Develop. After identifying your gaps, find ways to develop in those areas. It might be a workshop, coach or internal role
model who is particularly strong in the style youre trying to develop. For an added bonus, find a learning partner someone with whom
you can role-play to gain confidence.

5) Practice. Begin with small steps low-stakes situations where you can test out your new influencing approaches. Target a person
or situation where youd like to achieve a certain outcome, think through the influencing style that will work best in that situation, and give
it a try. See what works and what doesnt. As you build your capability and confidence, move on to higher-stakes scenarios.

Whether you are leading, following, and/or collaborating, chances are you need to influence others to be successful. Influence strategies
can range from reliance on position to education, encouragement and collaboration. The key is knowing which approach to use in a given
situation.

Susan Tardanico is CEO of the Authentic Leadership Alliance, a leadership and communications consultancy. She is also Executive in
Residence at the Center for Creative Leadership. A former corporate senior executive and broadcast reporter, Susan has a passion for
authenticity, reinvention and courageous career management.

Ways to Positively Influence Others In The Princess Miralyn C. Mercado BSBA MA 3-2

Workplace
Louis Salguero

UX, HCD, UCD, GUI, graphic and web designer

No matter how brilliant or hard-working we are, we cannot succeed without the help and cooperation from others. Men are not islands scattered in a sea of separation, we

are all connected in some way. In the 21st Century the world has shrunk significantly as we keep pace with the most remote parts of the world and we learn from other

cultures with a click of a button. We have discovered we are not so different after all, language might be a barrier but we all have the same basic needs, the same can be

said about the strangers we meet on the street or people we work with.

Regardless of where you work or your occupation, we all have something in common; we spend a large part of our lives in a job that some of us like and some of us dont.

If you find yourself in a job you dont like, by getting people on your side will make the journey more bearable, and you will even begin to enjoy going to work.
Here are my 10 Ways to Positively Influence Others in the Workplace:

Develop a Grateful Attitude

I have a ritual every morning before I go out the door; I look around my home and quietly say thank you for having a roof over my head, for the food we eat and having a

family to love. By appreciating what I already have my purpose becomes clearer, to bring the bacon (or tofu if you are vegetarian) and feed the ones I love. During the day

as the challenges arise, I think of my daily ritual and makes me happy, happiness is contagious.

Happiness is contagious

There are a million+1 reasons to be sad or angry in the world, however, there are ten billion+1 reasons to be happy, we were not put on this earth plane to be miserable,

find a reason to rejoice, look at the window and see the blue sky, if it is raining be happy that more trees and vegetables will grow. Talk to the people who nurture you and

smile at the ones who dont. If you are alive and healthy you are doing well.

Smile even when you are down

Have you ever heard the expression Fake it until you make it? The same principle applies when things go wrong, smile and it will put you in a better mood. Even when

the boss is harassing you, co-workers not going along with the program, the computer crashed wiping all your hard work, simply smile. By smiling we release endorphins

(happy hormones) and smiling has a tendency to ease bodily tension, so flash those pearly whites, people around you will pick up on it and they will smile in return.

Always say Please and Thank You

Good manners are a passport to better relationships, and this is not just relegated to the workplace; even when you go out to restaurants, the movies, etc. people will go

out of their way to assist you and make your experience more enjoyable when they are treated with courtesy and respect. Having good manners shows the world we care

about others, you dont have to go to Harvard to learn good manners; they can easily become a habit when we learn to treat others the way we want to be treated.

Stay away from gossip

Sometimes things happen in the work place that gives some people a reason to speak about others behind their back. Discussing events is inevitable however, these

events are often distorted for entertainment purposes and objectivity is lost. Gossip de-moralizes the target person and if it is malicious can become bullying. What I

suggest is simple, smile at the people involved in gossip and walk away avoiding engagement, do not be drawn by the negative energy, it will keep you centered and will

not distort your opinion of the victim, they deserve our respect regardless.

Be kind to the Village Idiot

No matter how many different places I have worked at there is always a Village Idiot. These people might be eccentric, not articulate, weird or just different. When

engaged in conversation by the V.I. be kind and listen to what he or she is saying, you will be surprised there is an unconventional wisdom to them, and by bothering to

listen to them you will develop a good will. You never know when you might need their help.

Power and Influence

Princess Miralyn C. Mercado BSBA MA 3-2

By Judith E. Glaser T H E B L O G 06/09/2013 10:43 am ET | Updated Aug 09, 2013

Decipher the language of leadership!

Power in the workplace has traditionally been defined as force, dominance, assertiveness, strength, invincibility, and authority. As we
observe others rise to higher levels of leadership, we ask ourselves How do they do it? Our observations can easily lead us to conclude
that the most powerful (most dominant) make it to the top and that the rule of thumb is that to rise to a leadership position, we must bring
into play our behaviors of force, dominance, aggression, and strength.
However, power and leadership are being redefined. No longer are we comfortable equating leadership with force, and power with
dominance. In forward-thinking corporations, power is shifting from I-centric to We-centric, and this shift requires a commitment and a plan
of action.
Throughout history, leadership has been critical to performance, to success, and to the greater good. The leader is often perceived as a
solitary, charismatic figure, similar to a movie star. People behind the scenes are often not acknowledged, despite the fact that they all play
critical roles!

Who of us wants to be the actor on stage and who wants to be behind the scenes?
Who of us sees ourselves leading initiatives to successful conclusions? We each must choose our roles.
The distinction between the leader and others is not a gender distinction. Women can rise to leadership positions, as long as they
understand how.
In the movie 9 to 5, administrative assistants are initially intimidated by their bosss arrogance and allow him to take credit for work they
accomplished. The women finally band together to create a force he is unable to reckon with. They take over their workplace and create
an environment in which they and others thrive.
In Working Girl, Melanie Griffith plays an administrative assistant to a female boss, who steals her ideas and presents them to impress a
business partner. When her boss falls on a ski slope, Melanie moves into position to represent her idea in her most charming, tactful
way, and to show her bosss true deceptive colors in a public forum.
All of us, both men and women, face similar challenges every day: How to bring our leadership ideas, voice and talents into the world
without stepping all over others? How to exercise our talents in a world with other talented executives through fair and honest interactions
and dynamics, without one-upping, stepping all over each others toes, deceptively undermining, intimidating, taking credit for others
success, or self-promoting?
In the climb up the ladder of leadership, we need to find ways to move up to the next level. How we influence others along the way will
determine how we climb. How do we use our power and influence in ways that create support around us?

Learn how to positively influence.

The meaning of influence ranges from the dominant and authoritative, to the more important and significant. At one end, it is being
influential because of fear. At the other end, it is being influential out of recognized importance, significance, and contribution to the
greater good. To be recognized as important to have others see our talents and reward us is the challenge that we all face in the rise
to the top.
How can women get recognized?
Why do women have more difficulty making it to the top? Women have as much ambition as men. On the rise to the top, however, women
tend to experience more obstacles along the way, and over time their ambition is diluted, obfuscated, and mitigated. We give up and give
in since fighting for what we want gets exhausting. When the obstacles feel like they are too big to overcome, we look for other avenues
to fulfill our dreams. We leave and tell ourselves its just not worth it.
Men get rewarded and chosen more often because men have a more dominant voice. Women start careers with the same level of
ambition, yet encounter forces that challenge their strength and tenacity to make it to the top. One challenge comes from the hardwiring
differences of men and women how each responds when something they desire is taken away.
Men and women respond differently when they face the loss of a desired object a job, a car, a paycheck, a promotion, or a project.
When something men desire is taken away, they tend to become more aggressive and go after what they want. Males are more dominant
and will go into fight behaviors more easily and quickly than females.
Females tend to appear more submissive in the face of loss. They may respond by crying or asking a friend for comfort because the
female instinct is to bond not fight. Rather than turning to their aggressive responses, women are more inclined, when a desired object
is removed, to want others to comfort them. The pejorative labels of submissive, acquiescing, unassertive, deferential, and meek are often
given to women.
These are both truths and stereotypes, yet we are influenced by these beliefs. The challenge of women rising to positions of importance
remains our power-puzzle to be worked out.
Here are some guidelines: Create a feedback-rich culture to establish healthy relationships. Make beliefs transparent. Create
communication signals to move forward together in a healthy way.
Shift from an I-centric to We-centric behavior and mindset. Emotional IQ: Self-awareness and self-management. Collaborative IQ:
Ability to build mutually beneficial relationships with others. Innovative IQ: Making the future health and success of the enterprise the
center of attention.
Avoid potential de-railers: Failure to manage your bio-reactive behaviors; failure to build mutual relationships with others; and making
you the center of attention.

Conversational Intelligence: How Great Leaders Build Trust and Get Extraordinary Results by Judith E. Glaser (BiblioMotion - Forthcoming October 2013;
Pre-order now on Amazon and Barnes & Noble)

Princess Miralyn C. Mercado BSBA MA 3-2

Building influence in the

workplace: It has to be personal
Denise Lee Yohn, Brand as Business Bites Dec. 7, 2010, 7:23 AM

(This is the second in a two-part blog series on influence and leadership. This post is written by Terry Starbucker, who
has been in the business world for over 28 years in a variety of leadership positions, and regularly writes about his
experiences in his blog, Ramblings From a Glass Half-Full . He is also a co-founder of SOBCon, a biannual live
conference event designed to help entrepreneurs achieve success in both the online and offline worlds. The first post, called
Ideas Plus Influence and written by me, appeared on Terrys blog on December 2. )

How do we become influential leaders?

Theres a certain magic (and danger too) to being in that position, where virtually everything that comes out of our mouths is
tagged with importance, legitimacy, and truth, whether they actually have that distinction or not.

Thats quite a powerful thing to wield in the workplace, and it certainly comes with a responsibility to use it wisely. But
thats another post.
What Id like to talk about is HOW that influence is obtained in the first place.

Contrary to what it may seem on the org chart, just bestowing a title and authority on someone doesnt automatically pass
along great influence. Can someone move things along on title alone? Sure they can, but without influence to grease the
wheel, its bound to be a lot more difficult.

Building influence is hard work. It doesnt happen overnight. Its like building a house brick by brick. And the reason why
this is so is because real workplace influence, the kind that enables rapid and often transformative progress, and ultimately
great success, can only be earned one person at a time.

It has to get personal.

And the only way to do that is spend a lot of time outside your office. Listening. Absorbing. Interacting. Building
relationships. Assessing personalities and how everyone absorbs and processes information. And yes, being transparent
and open about themselves.

This is critically important among your direct reports, but it has to go well beyond that. It has to get personal with all the
people you want to influence, and that includes your bosses, your peers, and all the staff that flow into your direct reports.

Each brick of your influence house is made of trust and respect as you forge these personal relationships, you will be
judged worthy of these things based on how well your actions matched your words (Ive seen more influence lost by broken
promises than any other thing).

Once the bricks start accumulating and your influence house takes shape, its at that point where your initiatives start to get
a lot more traction. At your level of the organization, problems get resolved quickly, and more importantly, diplomatically
and with relatively little friction, because you have forged these relationships, and can work inter and intra departmentally,
and up and down the org chart, with ease.

At the rank and file level, the staff are more responsive to your strategy and vision, because you have met many of them
individually, gained a greater understanding of the collective psyche of the group, and tailored the messages accordingly.
When the message comes down, your influence is felt because they really KNOW you, and they feel you are talking to them,
and not just pushing down orders.

Then the success happens, more bricks accumulate, and the house only grows stronger. But the leader, now flush with an
even greater influence, has to resist the temptation to start to start coasting and cut back on the relationship building, letting
the ego take control.

With influence, it always has to be personal. Even once it is obtained and the house is built, it must be properly maintained,
lest the house become a house of cards, collapsing because much of its foundation had been neglected. (In other words, we
can never get too big for our britches)

One last thing to consider the prospect of putting yourself out there in the way I am suggesting can be a daunting task,
especially for the more introverted leader. Theres certainly a fear factor involved.

My advice, based on over 28 years of building influence houses myself, is this: The reward is really worth the risk. Go for
it. Be influential.

And prosper.

Lead well!