Without influence, your great ideas don't matter

No one hears you, and your brilliance goes unappreciated. But is this a 'you' thing or a 'them' thing?

It's tempting to dismiss coworkers as unmotivated and slow to see your wisdom, but their behavior is out of your control. A more empowering stance is to own your part in "transmitting" your great ideas to the intended audience - with whom you'd like to have influence.

To optimize your transmission and have your desired level of influence, try these four steps:

1. Get out of your own head and tune into the collective goal at hand. Bulldozing your coworkers in a caustic debate won't convince them, and it burns bridges in the process.

2. Listen to what others see as the problem and clarify what you think you've heard.

3. Ask how they'd like you to help them and offer help inline with their request. Feel free to add some potential paths for additional discussion.

4. Determine what someone wants help with, and provide expertise/information to help them advance towards their goal.

Remember, arresting your highly active brain may be hard, but your busy brain will distract your attention and prevent you from connecting with your audience - who have the power to hear or ignore you.

#privateequity #influence #management