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Influence

"Work hard. 

If results depend on effort, then you will carry yourself far. 

If results depend on effort and luck, then you will have done what you can to influence the outcome. 

And if results depend on luck alone, then the outcome is random, but you will have won the battle with yourself."

7 Defining Characteristics of Leadership Influence

June 24, 2022


Professional leadership involves guiding a small team of employees or an entire department in completing different projects and tasks. Influencing your department or team can affect the way employees feel in their roles and about their tasks, and you may have the opportunity to create a positive experience. Understanding the effectiveness of leadership influence can help you apply it to your workplace. In this article, we discuss what leadership influence is, why it's important, seven characteristics of effective leadership influence and their benefits, with three examples of leadership influence in the workplace.

What is leadership influence?

Leadership influence is the ability a person has to change values, beliefs or attitudes about a topic. It's a skill you can learn as you gain more experience as a leader. A leader can use their knowledge and speaking ability to offer a new perspective or new information to an audience or team. Leaders who can successfully influence their audience may change their audiences' minds about a topic because of how they present their information.

Someone who has leadership influence can understand what moves people and activates an urgency within to create change. An audience may be more receptive to being influenced if they can trust their leaders. A few ways a leader can create trust with their audience can include:

  • Establishing credibility: You can establish credibility if you're honest, make your motives clear, demonstrate your knowledge with research and share the findings with others.
  • Building connections: Build connections with your audience or team members to understand what they need, what motivates them and their values.
  • Maintaining accountability: You can maintain accountability to build trust with others because it may show them you're committed to your work. To do this, you can set clear expectations and checkpoints for updates with your audience or team members.
  • Reciprocating influence: It's helpful for your audience or team members to know their leader is open to hearing different perspectives. This can happen when you allow them to ask you questions or have them share their thoughts on what you said.
  • Sharing interests: Sharing your work interests can show those you're trying to influence that you have a passion for what you're speaking about. Communicate your interests with passion and with a positive perspective.


Why is leadership influence important?

Leadership influence is important because you can have the ability to influence many people at once or an individual, like in an auditorium of people listening to you speak or to your team members at work. Leaders who influence others may inspire new ideas, strategies or changes within an organization. This type of leadership may help organizations reach their goals and help employees to feel more satisfied with their job. Influence can motivate employees to work hard to reach company goals.


Here are seven characteristics of effective leadership influence you can use in your management:

1. Attitude

Attitude is the way a person thinks and feels about someone or something and how it shows through their behavior. When you're influencing others, having a positive attitude can be beneficial. Your attitude has the potential to affect how others around you also feel about someone or something. For example, if your attitude is positive toward implementing a new strategy at work, your team members may also feel optimistic and welcoming of the idea.

2. Value

Value is something an audience or team member can apply to their lives, whether it's tangible or intangible. When you're influencing others as a leader, it's helpful to incorporate your values into your words and actions. If you're managing a team, you can help them complete a task to finish a project before its deadline, which may show you value helping others and being a team player. You can also work with team members individually if they're seeking career advancement advice. Adding value can empower those listening to share what they've learned with others.

3. Listening

Listening is a way to help you form a stronger connection with others. By listening to your team members or an audience as a leader, you may be more likely to create influence. When you listen to others, it can allow you to hear what people desire and value, which can help you cultivate your leadership skills in those areas. This is helpful when wanting to affect people's mindsets because you can discuss ideas or interests they find relevant.

4. Passion

A passion in life may motivate people to work toward their personal and work goals. Showing excitement for an idea can help give others motivation. This can cause them to act on your idea or change their perspective on whatever you're sharing. This is an important aspect of leadership influence because it motivates people to continue learning and developing as a person and in their career.

5. Openness

As a leader, it's important for you to show and encourage openness because it allows others to share their ideas with you. You can help each other as you work together. When leading a team meeting, it may be beneficial to ask others to share their ideas if no one is speaking. This can help them know they're allowed to contribute their thoughts during the meeting and that you value their input. It can also benefit you because you can use the team's skills to help improve the company.

6. Time management

While planning is essential in the workplace, it's also important to practice mindfulness. Mindfulness is when you're fully paying attention to the moment you're currently experiencing without thinking about the past or the future. A leader desiring to influence their teams can encourage members to focus on the things they can complete today. Having your team focus on things they can finish during a workday may increase productivity. They can become more engaged in their tasks and finish them quickly and efficiently.

7. Knowledge

It can be helpful for a leader to share their knowledge with their team and commit to continuing their education. You can do this by taking additional training courses the company offers its employees. Sharing your expertise may inspire your team members to continue their education or change their strategies to complete a task. It can be beneficial for you and your team if you commit to continuing your education in your industry. This can show there's more you can do to increase your job performance and knowledge within the industry.

Benefits of leadership influence

Here are some benefits of leadership influence:

  • Increase motivation: You can influence others to feel motivated in their work by asking what they require for success in their role. This can give them the tools and support to do their job well.
  • Encourage change: There's an opportunity for you to encourage others to create change or to ask for change at work if they feel the passion in what you're saying. This is beneficial for organizations if the change helps them reach their goals or makes a process easier for others to complete.
  • Promote education: If you're sharing your expertise with others, it can inspire them to educate themselves on a topic or research it further for a better understanding.

"The single biggest way to impact an organization is to focus on leadership development. There is almost no limit to the potential of an organization that recruits good people, raises them up as leaders and continually develops them."

-John Maxwell

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