Do You Practice Influence Adaption?

Success as an entrepreneur or business leader is directly proportional to their ability to influence others. The more influential an entrepreneur is for example, the greater the chance they will:

• Build long lasting and profitable relationships with customers
• Attract employees that want to do their best and support the entrepreneur’s mission
• Appeal to investors to attract investment

Being influential is a skill that can be built and improved overtime, but it takes concentration and adaption.

Consider the degree of influence that some of today’s most successful entrepreneurs have had, for example:

• Sir Richard Branson has already sold tickets to the inaugural voyage for Virgin Galactic.
• Ellen DeGeneres was able to convince a major network to take a chance on her as their host despite a less then stellar career as a stand up comedian.
• Reed Hastings was able to convince Netflix customers to stick around after his failed attempt at splitting the company into two separate entities.

It’s also critical to note that being influential does not rely on an ability to talk, but more so an ability to listen because it’s through listening that we learn about others, their needs, desires and perceptions of the world.

In a previous post I discussed the five attributes of Influence Adaption. You can read the post here. Today I wanted to show you how these attributes work together in order to build influence.

In order to increase your success, consider your most valuable audience, for example consider your:

• Customers
• Bankers
• Employees
• Family members
• Board members

As you consider each individual, think of their unique attributes as it applies to the Influence Adaption graphic above, and then adjust and adapt your approach to communication to position messages in a manner that is more attractive to them.

This is the key to be influential.

Do you have other ideas to share on how to be influential? Share your comments below!

© Shawn Casemore 2015. All rights reserved.