Power Play E-Book

Yamini Naidu

• Herausgeber: John Wiley & Sons
• Kategorie: Fachliteratur
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 283

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2016

Beschreibung

Discover the secrets of influence, impact and transformational leadership

Power Play is the powerful and practical 21^st century guide to mega-impact and influence, providing business leaders with explosive influence strategies to move people into action and results. Influence, like gravity, pulls success into your orbit and gives you the power to make real changes in your relationships, your organisation and the world. This book explores the different types of power and you will learn when to coerce, when to collaborate and when to connect. You'll delve into areas of influence that you may not have considered, including the power of message, context, empathy, humour, positioning, love and more. This book identifies the strengths and weaknesses of each of these influence tools and offers practical tips so you can create a seismic shift in your influence while maintaining authenticity and integrity.

Influence is the key factor that allows you to build powerful relationships that facilitate more effective leadership. It can mean the difference between achieving results and falling short, keeping clients or losing them, winning that pitch or blowing it. This book shows you how to amplify your influence and turbo charge your impact in every area.

• Understand the different types of power
• Discover new tools of influence and the art of power play
• Explore influence strategies with impact and integrity
• Become a power player and deliver results

Influence is a science, and it's the key to your personal and professional success. Power Play helps you build a bottomless supply, and wield it with authenticity, compassion and integrity.

Leseprobe

POWER PLAY

GAME CHANGING INFLUENCE STRATEGIES FOR LEADERS

YAMINI NAIDU

First published in 2016 by John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd 42 McDougall St, Milton Qld 4064

Office also in Melbourne

© Yamini Naidu Consulting 2016

The moral rights of the author have been asserted

National Library of Australia Cataloguing-in-Publication data:

Creator:

Naidu, Yamini, author.

Title:

Power Play: game changing influence strategies for leaders / Yamini Naidu.

ISBN:

9780730335993 (pbk.) 9780730329466 (ebook)

Subjects:

Transformational leadership. Success in business. Influence (Psychology).

Dewey Number:

658.4

All rights reserved. Except as permitted under the Australian Copyright Act 1968 (for example, a fair dealing for the purposes of study, research, criticism or review), no part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, communicated or transmitted in any form or by any means without prior written permission. All inquiries should be made to the publisher at the address above.

Cover design by Kathy Davis/Wiley

Cover image: © Master 3D / Shutterstock

Disclaimer

The material in this publication is of the nature of general comment only, and does not represent professional advice. It is not intended to provide specific guidance for particular circumstances and it should not be relied on as the basis for any decision to take action or not take action on any matter which it covers. Readers should obtain professional advice where appropriate, before making any such decision. To the maximum extent permitted by law, the author and publisher disclaim all responsibility and liability to any person, arising directly or indirectly from any person taking or not taking action based on the information in this publication.

CONTENTS

About the author

Acknowledgements

Introduction: Another book on influence?

What is influence today?

How is this book different?

Influence versus power

What is power play?

Does the world need influencers?

What makes me an expert?

How to use this book

Part I: The case for new influence

Chapter 1: Influence versus manipulation

A perfect match

The dark side

A breach of trust

Powerlessness — an influence vacuum

Manipulators — power for power's sake

Masters of influence

Chapter 2: The art of power play

How (so far)

The new how

Part II: How (so far) and the new how

Chapter 3: Hard power … ouch, that hurts!

When did our love affair with hard power begin?

Hard power and incentives

Hard power in a knowledge economy

Hard power is tough on leaders

Limitations of hard power

Chapter 4: Soft power … take it slowly

An awww moment

Sometimes only soft power will do

Experiences with soft power

Soft power to influence

Soft power,

slooow

results

Chapter 5: Story power … inspire me

Business storytelling

Power up your storytelling

Chapter 6: Context power … I am king

An experiment in context

Context and content — which is king?

The anatomy of context

Masters of context

Context is king

Research, be agile, adapt

The new perfect — co-curate, level up, transform

Chapter 7: Empathy power … walk in my shoes

Caution: caring people ahead

Beware of projection bias

Connect here for empathy

Trust the source, trust the information

The power of value exchanges

Empathy is courage

Public and private discourse

Empathy and the bottom line

Chapter 8: Message power … become the master of your message

Message mastery

Chapter 9: Love power … changing the world in four letters

Does what you do light you up?

Heart over hype

Do you love your co-workers?

Love for customers and consumers

The art of love bombs

Love frames

Hearts and minds

Chapter 10: Humour power … why so serious?

You have to be kidding

More than a joke

The facts on funny

Humour amateur

Humour apprentice

Humour mastery

Chapter 11: Positioning power … become the influencer

Identify the movers and shakers

Reach out to connect and influence

The rise of the mega influencer

Profile and positioning

How to become a mega influencer

Chapter 12: Fierce power … fiercely being you

Unlock your values

Values manifest in behaviour

Congruence

Authenticity

Some positive strategies

Quitting at the top

Chapter 13: Co-creation power … the magic of elevation

What are the distinguishing features of co-creation?

Embrace an infinite mindset

Some considerations

The quantum leap

What are the challenges for co-creators?

Consumer philanthropists

Sex: a final word

Chapter 14: Cause leadership … mega power of movements

Finding purpose

Head, heart and hands

Call to action — the ask

Leading by their actions

Watch for the pitfalls

Conclusion: What next?

Index

Advert

EULA

List of Tables

Chapter 3

Table 3.1

List of Illustrations

Chapter 6

Figure 6.1: the anatomy of context model

Figure 6.2: the context is king model

Chapter 8

Figure 8.1: the message mastery model

Chapter 9

Figure 9.1: the love ladder

Chapter 10

Figure 10.1: the humour matrix

Chapter 11

Figure 11.1: the mega influencer matrix

Chapter 12

Figure 12.1: the fierce power model

Guide

Cover

Table of Contents

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About the author

Yamini is, as far as she knows, the world's only economist (please don't hold that against her) turned business storyteller. With a client list of Fortune 500 and ASX top-20 companies, she works at CEO and C-suite level around the world to spread the power of stories throughout organisations.

She was born and raised in Mumbai (formerly Bombay) in India and to everyone's surprise, including her own, won a gold medal at Bombay University and completed a postgraduate degree at the London School of Economics on an LSE Scholarship.

Yamini is a prolific speaker and writer, and is consistently rated among the top business storytellers globally, as well as being one of Australia's most in-demand keynote speakers.

Her first, co-authored book, Hooked: How leaders connect, engage and inspire with storytelling, was published in 2013 to critical acclaim.

She is also a voluntary guide at the National Gallery of Victoria. She now lives in Melbourne, Australia, with her large extended family, including a crazy seven-year-old escape artist Cavoodle.

Acknowledgements

It was 9 am on 23 September 2015, in Dearborn, Michigan, world headquarters of the Ford Motor Company. I was presenting at the Ford Global Leadership Program. As I was introduced, a powerful wave of emotion surged through me.

The MC called out my name and I was on.

I stepped out to face a room full of leaders … and stood there, speechless. This doesn't happen often — I speak for a living. I didn't utter a word for a full minute (or that's how long it felt) as I composed myself.

What I'd just experienced was a tidal wave of gratitude for the privilege of addressing one of the most prestigious gatherings of business leaders on the planet.

I frequently have the opportunity, pleasure and privilege of travelling around the world to run workshops and master classes and give keynote addresses to audiences large and small, usually made up of business leaders. Leaders who have a mandate to change not only their world but the world.

Every day these individuals face two challenges: how to engage people and how to deliver results, generally in tough commercial environments. Above all they have to meet these challenges with authenticity and integrity rather than vanity and arrogance.

I base this book about influence on their learnings and experiences, and am grateful for the generosity with which they have shared their challenges and successes.

This book is a co-creation built on the honesty of the leaders, too many to name, with whom I have worked. It would also not have happened without the talented team at John Wiley & Sons, particularly Acquisitions Editor Lucy Raymond, who suggested the genius title Power Play (which magically summed up the book). Deepest thanks to my brilliant editors, Jem Bates and Roger McDonald, for their tough love.

Isaac Newton said, ‘If I have seen further it is by standing on the shoulders of giants'. I have this privilege every day. I wish to thank Dr Roger Pearman for his belief in me and for backing me in the global arena. I am also grateful for the wisdom of my mentors who continually inspire and challenge me: Matt Church and Peter Cook. My deepest thanks to Simon Waller whose mentoring in digital productivity is what made this book a reality. Simon, your work changes lives. Carolyn Tate, the founder of the Slow School of Business Melbourne, shared her salubrious home (Slow School HQ), where much of this book was written. Thank you, Carolyn, for your encouragement and generosity.

The love and support of my family, my husband, Vish, my daughter Tara, my brother Prathap, my sister Girija, my niece Poornima, the warmth of my extended family, and the laughter and joy of my friends, especially the ‘awesome foursome', all make my life rich.

Above all, thank you, dear reader, for choosing this book and for taking on the opportunity to Power Play.

Yamini

IntroductionAnother book on influence?

In July 2009 a young mother was driving down a suburban street in Milwaukee in the United States with her two young children strapped in the back. She lost control, the car hit a tree, flipped over, trapping the young family inside, and burst into flames.

A crowd quickly gathered around the burning vehicle, but everyone was scared and no one knew what to do amid the chaos. Then brothers Joel and John Rechlitz pushed to the front of the crowd. Sizing up the situation, the two off-duty firefighters grabbed a couple of pipes lying by the side of the road, smashed the windshield and pulled the mother and her two-year-old daughter to safety.

But the four-year-old boy was still trapped in the blazing car, which threatened to explode at any moment. Joel and John tried to reach the boy through the windshield but couldn't free him. They knew they couldn't rescue him alone, so they shouted instructions to the crowd.

Joel asked for a knife so he could cut the boy free from his seatbelt. John called for a nearby hose. The crowd swung into action.

Even though their own lives were at risk, the brothers galvanised the onlookers into action. They freed the boy with seconds to spare before the fuel tank exploded, engulfing the car in an inferno.

America embraced John and Joel as heroes, but the brothers acknowledged they could not have pulled off the rescue without the help of strangers.

What John and Joel did that day was heroic, but they also used a power we all possess — the power of influence. They influenced a group of people to risk their lives and extend themselves in a crisis.

What is influence today?

Essentially influence is about creating a shift, getting things done through other people. In leadership, influence means getting people who turn up to turn on. Influence is like gravity: without it so much of your effort floats out into space. When you choose to influence, you exert a positive force like gravity that pulls success into your orbit.

Aperian Global reviewed a 2012 survey by the Corporate Leadership Council (CLC) of 11 500 leaders in 35 companies across a range of industries and countries. Among its findings were the following:

Influence emerged as the top-ranked competency of high-performing global leaders — it was more strongly correlated with successful global leadership performance than capabilities traditionally seen as key elements of a leader's job such as vision, decision-making, delegation, creativity, resource allocation or holding employees accountable …

But does the world really need another book on influence? When motivational speaker and author Zig Ziglar was once told motivation didn't matter because it didn't last, he replied, ‘Neither does bathing, which is why we recommend it daily'.

Influence, like motivation, is a daily choice. Life usually lets you choose whether to influence others or to be influenced by them. If you choose to be an influencer, this book is for you. It gives you the tools and mindsets you'll need as an influencer in the 21st century.

Do you remember Brody's (Roy Scheider's) reaction in Jaws when he first saw just how big the great white shark was?

‘You're gonna need a bigger boat.'

Most leaders recognise they are going to need a bigger influence boat to successfully navigate the shark-infested challenges of the modern workplace. And that is what Power Play offers — it is your bigger boat.

How is this book different?

You have probably read so many books on influence that the idea has become almost a cliché. How is this book different?

Recently I was walking near my home and saw something that made me pause. I spotted a man in a suit in a public phone booth using the pay phone! I wanted to press my nose against the glass and ask, ‘What's wrong? Where's your mobile?' The image struck me as almost shockingly old fashioned and out of place in a modern context.

Of course you can still do business from a public pay phone, but how effective, agile and competitive would you be against an opponent who always carries a mobile?

This book explores the mobile phone equivalent of contemporary influence.

Influence versus power

In The Elements of Power: Lessons on leadership and influence, Terry R. Bacon differentiates influence as the application of power to accomplish a specific purpose. He identifies 11 sources of power: five in the personal realm (knowledge, expressiveness, history, attraction and character), five organisational sources (role, resources, information, network and reputation), and one meta-source (will).

Every year Time magazine produces a special edition dedicated to the world's 100 most influential people. Introducing the list in April 2014, Time's managing editor, Nancy Gibbs, wrote, ‘The TIME 100 is a list of the world's most influential men and women, not its most powerful … Power is a tool, influence is a skill; one is a fist, the other a fingertip'.

Power and influence, the tool and the skill: you need both to succeed in business. Both allow you to lead where others will follow. Even if you don't have the formal position or mandate of leader, influence will mean your voice is heard, your idea implemented or the client signs up with you, not your competitor.

Influence is often the means by which someone achieves power. Influence and power are like the chicken and egg. Traditionally it was impossible to have influence without positional power, but today we know the paradigms have shifted. The internet and social media have given sole activists a voice and influence far beyond the traditional power bases of the corporate behemoths they take on.

We can see influence and power as two sides of the same coin. Influence will give you more power, but power will not always give you more influence.

What is power play?

CEB Global's talent report of 2014 focused on high-potential individuals and programs, and what motivates achievement in an executive position. A key finding was that high-potential individuals are driven by power: ‘they want the opportunity to exercise, influence and shape how things are done'.

Simply stated, this is what power and influence can do: they can help you effect the change you want in your world. Trying to succeed without power and influence is like trying to get to your destination in a car with no fuel. You may as well walk.

Power play hinges on your decision to play the game to turbocharge your influence. So you can create the change you want as a leader, in your relationships, in your organisation or business, and in the world. This book not only fills your car with fuel — it gives you a better engine management system, a well-tuned exhaust, a sexy spoiler and better handling alloy wheels, to deliver high performance in every arena in your business and life.

Power play positions influence as the key to thriving and succeeding in business and life. Yet I will show that influence does not have to be onerous, hard to do well or especially challenging. Like any skill, it can be taught and learned, and we can all get better at it.

And play is the energy you need to bring to the game of influence. Often influence strategies are implemented with unnecessary gravitas — ‘It is serious business, this influence' — yet to be successful requires a playful energy. You need to take risks, to do your best, to learn from your mistakes and to celebrate your successes. Keep your touch light, build bridges and make friends as you seek to grow your influence power. To be a power player, use the strategies in this book, yet do so with a playful energy, and see your influence take a quantum leap forward.

This book will help you become a power player whose tank of influence never runs empty.

In this book we explore many forms of influence, from hard power (coercion) to soft power (consulting, collaborating) and story power (connecting, inspiring). On the way we track the progress of approaches to influence from yell to tell to sell to compel.

We also examine influence tools you may not have consciously considered before, such as message mastery, context power, the power of empathy, love, humour, co-creation and positioning, fierce power (the power inherent in you) and the power of cause leadership.

We identify the weaknesses and strengths of each of these influence tools and offer you practical tips so you can create a seismic shift in your influence while maintaining authenticity and integrity.

Does the world need influencers?

We might also ask that other eternal question: does the world need leaders? The answer in both cases is a resounding yes.

Influencers generate change in the world. (Of course change might be for good or evil, but this book is concerned primarily with positive change.) Influencers are the movers and shakers — perhaps even the rock stars — of our world. We not only need influencers, but we need more of them.

Every word we speak and every act we perform is an opportunity to influence and create an impact or shift.

A recent study revealed that on average we speak around 16 000 words a day. Many of us spend most of our waking moments in company talking. We don't so much sleep talk as wake talk! But talking isn't always communicating. Much of our talk is white noise, unless we choose differently.

When he was CEO of NAB, one of Australia's top four banks, John Stewart was surprised to learn that he spent more than 75 per cent of his time ‘communicating'. Like most CEOs and leaders, a large part of your role and your success in it depends on your ability to influence people, opinions and outcomes. It is about crafting a message that resonates and communicating it effectively to inspire others to act.

Influence can make the difference between achieving results and falling short, keeping clients or losing them, winning that pitch or blowing it.

Our success in exerting influence can determine our wellbeing and happiness in our personal lives too.

My friend Jen divides the world into two sorts of people: those who keep their petrol tank full and those who let it run dry. Her husband falls into the latter category.

One day she left a note on his alarm clock saying, ‘Fill the tank please. Love you! Jen'. He replied via email with an image of an empty tank and the words ‘Chances — grim'. She decided she had to influence him in some other way, so the next morning she left him a different note: ‘Fill the tanky for some hanky panky tonight.' Her tank has been full ever since!

Influence is the key to personal and professional success. Influencing others isn't a dark art; it isn't about luck or magic. It is a skill that, when applied wisely, will help you to dramatically increase your impact and success. But you can, and should, wield it with authenticity, compassion and integrity.

Beyoncé featured on Time's March 2014 cover as the most influential person on the planet, after sell-out world tours and shocking the music industry by releasing an album directly through social media.

You've heard of monologue and dialogue. Welcome a new word to the English language — Beyoncelogue. Actress Nina Millin created a YouTube sensation by weaving lyrics from Beyoncé's songs into a dramatic monologue. It's probably only a matter of time before we're all speaking in Beyoncelogue!

According to Time, Beyoncé doesn't just sit at the table, she builds better tables. And that is what power play can do for you. It can help you build better relationships, businesses, sales, clients — and a better life.

What makes me an expert?

My journey with the power of influence began at age 10 when my teacher, Miss Asha, asked our class to write a sentence according to these rules: it had to make sense and use 10 words only, and each word had to consist of just two letters.

We tried and tried, but came up with nothing. My teacher then wrote on the board, ‘If it is to be, it is up to me'.

That day Miss Asha influenced a classroom of children to think and behave differently — not just in that moment, but for the rest of their lives. It was my first lesson in influence, and I was hooked!

So much so that many years later, in 2005, I co-founded a company that did just one thing: it specialised in storytelling, the oldest form of influence.

To put this in context, I am an economist by training, but decided I really wanted to be a storyteller.

Reading Steve Denning's The Leader's Guide to Storytelling, a seminal work on business storytelling, I had a lightbulb moment: I realised that for a leader and influencer this was the missing link. Data on its own was not enough; my spreadsheets needed stories.

I was so excited when I made this decision. I told my mother, ‘I'm going to become a storyteller'. And like any good Indian mother, she replied, ‘Is that a job? Why can't you choose IT or be a doctor? Storytelling? You do that on weekends'.

Today my mother is my proudest supporter and introduces me as an ‘economist turned storyteller’.

How to use this book

Hmm, my first answer would be, ‘Read it from cover to cover, word for word, then follow up with a five-star review on Amazon, thank you'. Of course I might be biased!

How do you read? Are you a scanner (flipping through headings, summaries), a dipper (dipping into chapters that grab your attention) or a deep diver (reading the whole book, or at least the parts that interest you) or a combination of these? This book works for all reading styles.

If the thought of reading the whole book sequentially from start to finish makes your hair curl, start by reading Part I as that will give you a frame of reference for the book. Scan the ‘at a glance' summaries in Part II for a snapshot of each chapter, then dive deep into the strategies that interest you.

You might love a slow buildup or prefer to cut to the chase from the get-go. No matter your preference, each chapter finishes with a gift for every reader, providing a power play tip that will propel you into an accelerated start.

The 1999 movie The Hurricane was based on the true story of middleweight boxer Rubin ‘Hurricane' Carter, who served nearly 20 years in prison based on a controversial murder conviction. In the movie, his character says, ‘He who bemoans the lack of opportunity forgets that small doors many times open up into large rooms'.

Think of the end-of-chapter power play tips as small doors that will open into large rooms. Where information is concerned, we are often spoilt for choice. These tips are designed to help you pick out just one technique from each chapter and make a start. Action precedes clarity.

If you're looking for a quick fix, or ways to manipulate others, then this book is not for you. But if you're looking to grow as a person and as a leader, to influence for good, to make your world and the world a better place, then I extend a warm welcome to you.

Let's salute influence as a timeless skill, but recognise it as a skill whose modes have changed to reflect the times we live in. Welcome to the new way to influence for success and results in the 21st century. More power play to you.

Now let's begin our journey.

Part IThe case for new influence

When was the last time you tuned into the safety briefing on board a plane? It's amazing to consider that even when our lives could depend on the information, we are reluctant to pay attention.

Air New Zealand has managed to reinvent the tired format of airline safety videos, using humour to find new ways to influence their audience. Every year they release a new air safety video that is pretty much guaranteed to go viral. For example, film director Peter Jackson plays a cameo role in a Hobbit-themed version called ‘An Unexpected Briefing'; another, ‘Safety Old School Style', stars Golden Girl Betty White; and (my personal favourite) US fitness personality Richard Simmons and leotard-clad cabin crew deliver preflight safety messages to a disco beat!

Air New Zealand has found a fresh and compelling way to influence. The case for new influence doesn't rest on media stars and videos with high production values, though, but on simple yet effective strategies that can be used successfully every day.

Even a humble sign can be made over using one of the tools we will examine — message power. Walking through a park in London recently, I spotted a lawn sign that, rather than the conventional ‘Keep off the grass', read simply, ‘The grass is resting'. Just a little paint, and imagination. That's influence.

Part I sets out the case for new influence. In chapter 1, we explore the difference between influence and manipulation. Chapter 2 introduces the art of power play, challenging our traditional reliance on a limited range of hard power and soft power tools, and presents a review of the various ‘modes of influence' that will be developed in the rest of the book.

Chapter 1Influence versus manipulation

What if lives were saved or lost based on your ability (or lack of it) to influence people and events? How do you exert influence when the stakes are so high?

Pet Rescue Australia faces this challenge every day.

Tragically, 100 000 rescued dogs are put down every year in Australia. In an effort to make a difference, Pet Rescue set out to persuade more Australians to adopt rescued dogs. First they had to break down their biggest barrier: getting people to visit a shelter.

Their strategy was simple: ‘If we can't bring people to the rescued dogs, we'll bring the rescued dogs to the people.' How, though? Pet Rescue is a not-for-profit organisation with limited marketing budget and resources.

A perfect match

But they had a secret weapon. Japanese researcher and psychologist Sadahiko Nakajima has made a study of dog–owner resemblance. Nakajima's research shows that pet–human resemblance is empirically valid, a key reason being that some pet owners consciously or unconsciously choose dogs that look like them! Pet Rescue Australia used this insight to deploy their strategy.

They commissioned an app called Dog-A-Like. You download the app and upload a photo of yourself, and the app scans through all the photos of dogs in rescue shelters to find your perfect dog match.

Bingo! Dog-A-Like was an instant hit, becoming the number one app in the Australian iTunes store for a couple of weeks. Whether or not they were thinking of getting a dog, thousands of people started using it and uploading their ‘perfect match' images to Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

The result? A 36 per cent increase in dogs rehomed — that's more than 2200 dogs every month. It has been Australia's single most successful dog rehoming campaign to date, and that's nothing short of inspiring.

But influence is not all dancing unicorns, rainbows and adorable rehomed dogs.

The dark side

Just as the sun casts a shadow, influence has a dark side. It often earns a bad name because people mistakenly interpret it as manipulation, but manipulation is the flip side of influence. Too many books on influence focus on techniques best described as manipulative or exploitative.

Sixteenth-century diplomat and political theorist Niccolò Machiavelli, in his controversial but enduring political treatise The Prince, declared, ‘It is better to be feared than loved'.

Could that be true, then and now?

Machiavelli was a man of his times, and the city-states of 16th century Italy were snake pits of intrigue and deviousness where the powerful ruled through fear and by controlling information. But that was 500 years ago. Today the internet and social media have created unprecedented levels of transparency and accountability, right?

We all love stories of human endeavour, especially when the underdog beats the odds and triumphs over adversity. We admire heroes, invest in their success and learn from their wisdom. In a world overwhelmed by bad news, these inspiring stories offer rare beacons of hope. We are eager to believe.

A breach of trust

In 2013 wellness blogger Belle Gibson shared her personal story. She portrayed herself as a brave young Australian mother who had survived brain cancer and fought back, reinventing her life based on health and wellbeing.

She won a worldwide social media following through her Whole Pantry philosophy, released a bestselling app and scored a book deal with Penguin. Belle's journey and apparent transformation touched people's lives profoundly. She was an inspiration for cancer sufferers and ordinary people all over the world.

In March 2015 investigative journalists broke an even bigger story, alleging that the entire saga — from multiple cancers and heart surgery through heroic recovery — was a fabrication. When proof of the cancer was requested, none emerged. Claimed charitable donations from Gibson's app sales were unsubstantiated. Penguin and Apple pulled their support. Gibson's followers all over the world were left feeling angry and hurt. The fallout was ferocious.