Estimated reading time: 4 minutes
I believe that management and leadership are two different things. Management is defined as planning, organizing, staffing, leading, and controlling. Managers plan the work that needs to be done, organize the resources necessary to do the work, staff the team who will be responsible for doing the work, lead the team, and control the quality of the result.
Leadership is defined as the ability to influence. Yes, managers need to be leaders. But leaders do not have to be managers. Everyone can be a leader. Yes, everyone.
That’s why I was interested to hear Michael Walters’ session at SHRM 2024 this year. Walters is the chief human resources officer at Samsung Semiconductor and his session was titled “Harness Power for Good: How to Influence Effectiveness Within Your Organization”. This session focused on using influence to make good things happen in your organization. Here are my takeaways from the session:
- Be good at your job. Walters reminded us of the importance of staying relevant in our jobs. If we want to influence, we need to have skills. Obviously, this includes the hard skills and/or competencies of human resources. It also includes the softer or power skills like relationship building, curiosity, problem solving, etc. I loved that Walters included in the session a focus on the value of time. If we want to influence, then we need to use our time wisely.
- Get out of your own way. We need to minimize the influence that negative self-talk and imposter syndrome have on us. I realize this is very easy to say and difficult to do. It starts with becoming more self-aware. If we want to influence others, it can be helpful to understand our strengths, weaknesses, and what influences us. Walters also mentioned that sometimes getting out of our own way is holding ourselves accountable for our mistakes by owning the mistake and moving on.
- Focus on the decision. When we talk about influence, we’re often trying to influence a decision. It’s important to understand when the decision will be made, who will be involved in the decision-making process, and how the decision will be reached. Walters reminded us that sometimes decisions are made during the meeting after the meeting. He also reminded us that sometimes as much as we are advocating for a decision, we might only get a piece of what we want. We will have to figure out how to handle that.
- Know your power. I’ve written before about the different types of power. If we want to influence the organization, we need to recognize the types of power we have, the ones we need to cultivate, and how to properly use power. That doesn’t mean there won’t be times when we need help to influence the organization. We might have skills in one area but need someone with skills in another. Or maybe we don’t have as much access to the decision makers and need introductions.
- Tell the story. Once we gain access to the people we want to influence, we need to be prepared to tell a compelling story. Influence is about action and if we want people to make the decision that we’re advocating for … then we need to be able to tell the story that will make them answer “yes”. Learning how to tell a brief and engaging story is something we can learn. Start practicing and perfecting your skills.
As leaders, there will be times when we need to influence the organization. Some of the things Walters talked about during his session were focused on things we need to do all the time like being good at our jobs, getting out of our own way, and telling stories. Others – like focusing on the decision and knowing your power – might be more of a focus when we’re actually trying to actively influence a decision. Either way, being able to create influence is something that we need to think about regularly. That way, when we need to do it, we’re ready.
Image captured by Sharlyn Lauby after speaking at the HR Technology Conference in Las Vegas, NV
