Influence Redefined Shows the Relationship Between Communication and Leadership

Good leaders inspire. Amazing leaders develop a following. Amazing leaders are the subjects of countless biographies and headlines: Steve Jobs, Richard Branson and Oprah Winfrey. We hold onto their every word because we want something they have. We want their power to influence, whether we are seeking to get a new job or get a new customer. Influence Redefined: Be the Leader You Were Meant to Be, Monday to Monday is a guide to understanding how influence works and how you can cultivate it on a consistent (and steadily growing) basis.

What is Influence Redefined About?

The premise of Influence Redefined is that most of us overestimate our influence on others. As a result, we tend to underestimate the amount of work that goes into creating that influence. Part of this stems from our lack of clarity on the concept of “influence”. Influence Redefined makes it simple. Influence is the ability to get someone to act in a certain way, even when you’re not around. Influence is the key way leaders achieve their goals even when they are not actually around.

We also tend to make other bad assumptions about influence. We tend to link influence to formal titles in an  organizational chart. We believe that influence is something we can “turn on” when we need to. Influence Redefined would disagree with this on both accounts. Influence, as author Stacey Hanke sees it, doesn’t reside in formal titles and it is something affected by our day-to-day habits, particularly how we communicate with others. If we can improve the way we communicate in our daily interactions, we improve our ability to influence others — or so the rationale goes.

Improving our communication skills requires more than taking a speech or writing classes. It involves getting constructive feedback and practice (especially in a videotaped session) and deliberate practice in specific areas of our communication. All of us have communication habits that can detract from our ability to influence (such as fidgeting or repeating the phrase “um” or “like”) that we are often unaware of. We also tend to heavily focus on the message in communication, not the delivery. As a result, we believe that we’re already good communicators simply because we communicate Influence Redefined helps readers break out of their ego-driven illusions about their influence and into a more powerful and proactive reality.

Stacey Hanke is a communications coach, author, and keynote speaker who launched her own company, Stacey Hanke, Inc. in 2004. Hanke has a wide array of experiences in the communications industry including winning the National Speaker’s Association’s “Top 6 Under 40”, appearing on WGN Chicago and the Lifetime Network, as well as emceeing a TEDx event. She also happens to be a certified fitness instructor.

What Was Best About Influence Redefined?

The best part of Influence Redefined is the connection Stacey Hanke makes between communication and influence. This is a key factor in a speaker’s “presence” that many communication books often miss. Stacey Hanke argues that our presence isn’t some vague concept that some people are gifted with. It is built daily in the way we communicate with the people around us. This gives readers an opportunity to develop their presence in a strategic way. It also moves the excessive focus in communications training from the message to delivery of that message.

What Could Have Been Done Differently?

Influence Redefined provide a radically different (and more proactive) definition of “influence” and provides a pathway for readers to improve their influence-generating skills on their own. The book’s recommendations (including (mastermind group, videotaping session) only provide a glimpse of the potential areas that readers can fix For many readers, this might be enough. Other readers, however, may need more help tying the book’s recommendations into a day-to-day plan.

Why Read Influence Redefined?

Have you ever perceived that your communication isn’t having the impact that it should? Is your leadership inspiring your team to reach a new level of success? If not, then Influence Redefined offers the reflective process and strategies you need to begin. Focusing on actions that every single person at work engage every single day, Influence Refined helps readers understand and leverage the same principles that drive the influential communication of the world’s top business leaders.

This article, "Influence Redefined Shows the Relationship Between Communication and Leadership" was first published on Small Business Trends