"Influence Redefined" by Stacey Hanke - "Be the leader you were meant to be, Monday to Monday

With "Influence Redefined," author Stacey Hanke makes a significant contribution to the growing corpus of book that address the role of influence as a crucial leadership dynamic. I particularly appreciate her strong emphasis on communication as a foundation stone upon which all influence is built.

"More than three thousand managers surveyed by the Apollo Research Institute rated communication as the most important twenty-first century skill " (p. 43)

She breaks down the six essential characteristics of influential individuals:

• Trustworthy
• Credible
• Confident
• Knowledgeable
• Authentic
• Passionate (p. 49)

She ties together these two important dynamics: "I often describe the connection between influence and communication this way: Behind every influential individual sit the six influence characteristics, and behind these characteristics sit effective communication skills." (p. 51)

She makes the strong point in tying together the relationship between conversation and presentation: "A leader from a large pharmaceutical company had a big a-ha moment during one of our mentoring sessions: 'I get it! A presentation is really an extension of a conversation.'  He hit the nail on the head. How we show up for every conversation and interaction determines the level of influence we have, rather than simply turning on our 'A' game for presentations." (p. 95)

Mr. Hanke offer this important perspective on considering the needs of audience when prepare a presentation: "Need - What does your audience need to know in the amount of time you have with them in order to take the action you want them to take?" (p. 168)

Finally, she offers this perspective on using eye contact to exert influence while making a presentation: "Eye connection is the primary delivery skill that builds trust. Eye connection goes beyond eye contact. Eye connection is looking at an individual  in the eyes and being 100 percent focused on that person for a full sentence. . . . You only speak when you see eyes. No eyes, no talk." (p. 190)

Read this book and use its many insights to "be the leader you were meant to be, Monday to Monday."

Enjoy!

Al