Session Title:
Managing by Influence
Presenter Name:
Thierry Roullier
www.b2bproductmakers.com
The Reality
Accountability for
the Product
Coworkers have
competing agendas
Constant resource
constraints
Daily tide of
tactical work
No one reports to you
Management cannot
prioritize
Some people want you
or your org to fail
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Imagine an alternative reality where you
could influence anyone
Accountability for
the Product
No one contests this fact
Coworkers have
competing agendas
You now can get alignment
Constant resource
constraints
You can make your case to
get resources you need
Daily tide of
tactical work
You can redirect some of it to
someone else
It does not matter, because your
team is behind you
No one reports to you
Management cannot
prioritize
Now they can with your help
Some people want you
or your org to fail
They don’t dare to attack you
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Session Objective
Learn from one another about influence and
persuasion
Note 1: I did not practice many of the material presented here. In fact I may have done
the opposite in many cases!
Note 2: The material comes from personal and shared experience as well as from
literature and research on these topics
Note 3: This presentation will be superficial and I may be stating the obvious at times
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About me. In short: I have nothing to sell
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Prerequisite 1: The Vision
• Having a well thought-out, step-by-step understanding of where
things are and where they need to be and when is absolutely
key to influencing your team
• The beautiful thing is that you don’t need to have that vision
right off the bat. The simple fact of being the engine driving the
development of that vision will help you coalesce everyone’s
energy toward a common goal
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Prerequisite 2: Mapping the Emotional Landscape
We can’t deliver
•
•
•
These “tapes” may be running in the heads of your team players
Such tapes automatically trigger a standard set of behaviors that will hurt your
product
You may not be able to do much about it, but you should be aware of the existence
of tapes like these, otherwise you will hit the same wall all over again
Source Robert Cialdini “Influence, Science and Practice”
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Convincing others: what does NOT work?
• The John Wayne approach:
Make a case with an up-front
hard sell. It gives your
adversaries the ammunition
they need to bring you down
Source: Jay Conger ”The Necessary Art of Persuasion” Harvard Business Review
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Convincing others: what does NOT work?
• Resisting compromise: showing no
flexibility or interest in addressing other
constituents’ concerns is a sure way to kill
your ideas
Source: Jay Conger ”The Necessary Art of Persuasion” Harvard Business Review
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Convincing others: what does NOT work?
• Believing that the secret of
persuasion lies in presenting
great arguments. It matters,
but it is not enough
Source: Jay Conger ”The Necessary Art of Persuasion” Harvard Business Review
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Convincing others: what does NOT work?
• Assuming that persuasion is a one-shot
effort. Convincing a team is a process, not a
one-time event.
Source: Jay Conger ”The Necessary Art of Persuasion” Harvard Business Review
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So what DOES work?
You must first establish credibility
• Things will get a lot easier if you have the credibility to bring the
team to a win.
– Not too many individuals who have been in the same organization for a long
time have a pristine track record.
– New employees, hired to provide leadership are given the benefit of the
doubt for a while, but must swim in colder water after a few weeks.
– If you lack credibility, borrow it
– Facts and figures will also help you enlist critical minds.
– If you lose credibility, it is hard to get it back, but that’s no reason not to try
Source: Jay Conger ”The Necessary Art of Persuasion” Harvard Business Review
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So what DOES work?
Tell a story!
•
•
•
•
•
Metaphors
Experiences
Examples
Narratives
Jokes
Source: Jay Conger ”The Necessary Art of Persuasion” Harvard Business Review
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So what DOES work?
Frame for common ground
• Even if your credibility is high, your position must still appeal
strongly to the people you are trying to convince.
• What will be of interest to the individuals who are key to your
success?
Source: Jay Conger ”The Necessary Art of Persuasion” Harvard Business Review
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Other tricks: Labeling
“I know there’s still good in you”
Luke Skywalker, Return of the Jedi
“Assigning a trait, attitude, belief or other label to a
person, and making a request consistent with that label”
It works!
Source Noah Goldstein et al. “50 scientifically proven ways to be persuasive”
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Other tricks: The power of “Because”
“A well-known principle of human behavior
says that when we ask someone to do us a
favor, we will be more successful if we
provide a reason”
Source Robert Cialdini “Influence, Science and Practice”
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Enough of me sucking all the oxygen out of the room
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