Posts

Managing By Influence: How To Lead In The New Workforce

/ /by

Influence is everywhere: we’re in the midst of an election displaying the best and worst. Have at it, talented people, enjoy the show. Meanwhile, from where I’m sitting, it’s a game-changing year in talent management, too. What we’ve been speculating about isn’t in future tense anymore. It’s now. So let’s talk about telling people what to do.

If you winced at that phrase, I agree with you. Effective management, particularly in the realm of talent, is no longer about the ability to directly convey an order and have it spread and waterfall from Point A to Departments B through Z. And there are four key reasons why you can’t expect to wear a crown and be taken seriously in 2016:

  • The workscape is flat.
  • The work culture wants to be real.
  • Globalism isn’t just global, it’s intrinsic.
  • Big Data is much bigger than we are.

Flat As A Universe

Look at the workscape: We’re in the era of flat. Our preference for a work culture that values transparency, authenticity, and emotional leadership refutes our faith in top-down parroting — whether it’s directives or party line. It’s not enough to tell the VPs and let them quarterback down through the ranks. For one thing, there aren’t the same kind of ranks (refer to point #1).

Further, intrinsic to the nature of a flatter organization is not only its own need for transparency (need-to-know is the enemy of creative collaboration), but something else: sovereignty. As teams consolidate towards the pursuit of their own goals, they realize that to function successfully as a micro-organization, they best act independently, supporting their own priorities.

So how do we know it’s working? With analytics that can measure globally and flexibly, you don’t want a central motor that only wants to gauge itself. Moreover, the flatter the field, the harder it is to see it all. So analytics are best aimed circumferentially. And given the 24/7, we need a 360º view in real time, and there’s simply too much available data to ignore.

The Paradox

Decentralized, separately matrixed, each team setting its own functionality and priorities, the flatter structure creates a new paradox. It requires more communication, and more clarity, not less — just of a far more persuasive ilk. So how do you convince everyone to share the mission, and work in support of each other as well as the whole? How do you better align separate teams and their priorities with organizational mission?

You can’t do it by selling — which, as was recently and very aptly pointed out, negates authenticity. While it was discussed in terms of sales, the field of talent involves similar marketing strategies, from employer brand to social. So stats like “98 percent of sales reps with more than five thousand LinkedIn contacts will achieve quota” (Sales Benchmark Index) are more than telling.

What the new and most vital skill every manager in this environment needs is influence. It’s not about persuading, it’s about engaging. It’s not about isolated efforts, it’s about more collaboration than ever before. It’s closely tied to the rise of social, and given that social is the new normal, it’s also the new normal. Present-casting: check. It matters more than ever before, and it’s going to keep mattering.

A version of this post was first published on Forbes on 2/1/2016

Who's On Your List? Advice For Rising Stars From Yum! CEO

/ /by

Written by Bob Burg

In his excellent book, “Taking People With You: The Only Way to Make Big Things Happen,” iconic Yum! Brands Chairman and CEO, David Novak explains the importance of getting inside the heads of those we wish to influence. In other words, it’s not enough for us to want or desire a goal — we must know what motivates and drives the people we wish to take along with us.

It starts with genuine interest and caring about their needs, wants, goals and desires. But even that is not enough! Why? Because the following error can render our ideas nearly useless. According to Mr. Novak:

“One of the biggest mistakes leaders make is not thinking through all the people they have to lead to get where they want to go.”

He recommends that we ask ourselves who we need to affect, influence or take with us in order to be successful. As a former marketing executive, he compares this to a marketer trying to identify potential customers. And he believes that this list is absolutely essential.

When suggesting likely candidates, he casts a broad net: “your boss, your coworkers, people on your team, people from other departments whose help you’ll need — even people from outside your organization, such as shareholders, vendors, customers or business partners.”

Implications for Intrapreneurs

What does this mean for those among us who operate as “intrapreneurs” — those who work in an entrepreneurial way as employees of larger organizations? If you’re determined to make things happen as a leader (whether you have a formal title or not), but you don’t take Mr. Novak’s advice to heart, be prepared for a sudden halt in your progress.

His advice reminds me of a leadership failure or two from my past. In those situations, I’m fairly sure I persuaded those I targeted. However, my list was too short. I left out key “needed people,” and never even tried to obtain their buy-in. This wasn’t intentional; it was more a matter of not thinking things through and considering all the people whose commitment I would need. And inevitably I paid the price.

Network Relations: Connecting The Dots

Those were painful lessons, but I needed to experience them in order to grow. Or perhaps I could have avoided the pain, if Mr. Novak’s book had been available at the time. I’m not sure I would have understood without my first-hand experience as a reference point. But if there’s one thing better than learning from our own painful experience, it’s learning from someone else’s wisdom (which, most likely, was based on their own painful experience).

So, in that spirit, I encourage anyone who is on a path to intrapreneurial success to be sure and dot the I’s and cross the T’s — not just in terms of selling your vision, but in selling it to everyone who needs to be sold.

BobBurgHRHeadshotLearn More! Listen now to Bob’s 1-on-1 chat with David Novak, “Taking People With You,” where he shares numerous hard-hitting, valuable ideas from his book.

(Author Profile: Corporate speaker, Bob Burg, is coauthor of the International bestseller, “The Go-Giver.” His newest book, “Adversaries Into Allies” is scheduled for a late October release. Bob was a featured guest on #TChat events in early September, where he helped our community focus on ways that intrapreneurs can create business value within organizations. To learn more about Bob and connect with him on Social Media, visit www.burg.com.)

Image Credit: Pixabay

Who’s On Your List? Advice For Rising Stars From Yum! CEO

/3 Comments/ /by

Written by Bob Burg

In his excellent book, “Taking People With You: The Only Way to Make Big Things Happen,” iconic Yum! Brands Chairman and CEO, David Novak explains the importance of getting inside the heads of those we wish to influence. In other words, it’s not enough for us to want or desire a goal — we must know what motivates and drives the people we wish to take along with us.

It starts with genuine interest and caring about their needs, wants, goals and desires. But even that is not enough! Why? Because the following error can render our ideas nearly useless. According to Mr. Novak:

“One of the biggest mistakes leaders make is not thinking through all the people they have to lead to get where they want to go.”

He recommends that we ask ourselves who we need to affect, influence or take with us in order to be successful. As a former marketing executive, he compares this to a marketer trying to identify potential customers. And he believes that this list is absolutely essential.

When suggesting likely candidates, he casts a broad net: “your boss, your coworkers, people on your team, people from other departments whose help you’ll need — even people from outside your organization, such as shareholders, vendors, customers or business partners.”

Implications for Intrapreneurs

What does this mean for those among us who operate as “intrapreneurs” — those who work in an entrepreneurial way as employees of larger organizations? If you’re determined to make things happen as a leader (whether you have a formal title or not), but you don’t take Mr. Novak’s advice to heart, be prepared for a sudden halt in your progress.

His advice reminds me of a leadership failure or two from my past. In those situations, I’m fairly sure I persuaded those I targeted. However, my list was too short. I left out key “needed people,” and never even tried to obtain their buy-in. This wasn’t intentional; it was more a matter of not thinking things through and considering all the people whose commitment I would need. And inevitably I paid the price.

Network Relations: Connecting The Dots

Those were painful lessons, but I needed to experience them in order to grow. Or perhaps I could have avoided the pain, if Mr. Novak’s book had been available at the time. I’m not sure I would have understood without my first-hand experience as a reference point. But if there’s one thing better than learning from our own painful experience, it’s learning from someone else’s wisdom (which, most likely, was based on their own painful experience).

So, in that spirit, I encourage anyone who is on a path to intrapreneurial success to be sure and dot the I’s and cross the T’s — not just in terms of selling your vision, but in selling it to everyone who needs to be sold.

BobBurgHRHeadshotLearn More! Listen now to Bob’s 1-on-1 chat with David Novak, “Taking People With You,” where he shares numerous hard-hitting, valuable ideas from his book.

(Author Profile: Corporate speaker, Bob Burg, is coauthor of the International bestseller, “The Go-Giver.” His newest book, “Adversaries Into Allies” is scheduled for a late October release. Bob was a featured guest on #TChat events in early September, where he helped our community focus on ways that intrapreneurs can create business value within organizations. To learn more about Bob and connect with him on Social Media, visit www.burg.com.)

Image Credit: Pixabay