ELI Group's Blog

Influencing through Ideas and Relationships

We believe sustained leadership impact includes goal accomplishment as well as people engagement.  An essential tool for leaders to achieve this level of effective impact is their influencing skills.  There are many techniques and styles of influencing that are discussed in leadership development; however, we find the broad categories of  influencing through ideas and/or influencing through relationships to be very useful. 

• Leaders who influence mainly through ideas focus on the work or the product.  They focus on the idea and drive the work forward.  A leader who influences chiefly through ideas might be heard saying, “I don’t have to navigate the politics or position myself for a promotion, my work speaks for itself.”    This leader tends to have a small, tightly knit network of others focused on the work.
• Those who influence through relationships put their energy into nurturing their relationships and connections.  They build trusted relationships that will help move ideas through organizations.  These leaders have a keen sense of who they need to have in their network to get things done and a lens to the informal network that exists in all organizations.

In early career, it is natural to rely on influencing through ideas to gain visibility.  As leaders develop into higher levels of organizational contribution, it is necessary to bring a balance to your influencing style.   It is imperative to build a web of relationships that will get your ideas heard.  

We suggest doing an analysis of your own influencing style.  How do you tend to influence - through your ideas, your product  or through your relationships, your connections?  Now, examine the organization in which you work.  Are you being as effective as possible within your organizational context?  Is there a nuanced shift that you could make toward ideas or building relationships that would help you influence in a more impactful way?