Difficult skills to master require a decent amount of investment - of time, energy, blood, sweat and tears. Influence is just one of those that requires a big investment on many of these fronts.

While you can learn a great deal from books and articles, nothing quite works as well as learning through observation. However, passive observation is slow and of variable quality.

When it comes to learning influence through observation, some questions will help give you structure and speed up the process.

For instance: Read More

Be very careful with the attitude you adopt when you go into action. Attitude begets behaviour at the subtlest of levels.

If you hold a negative attitude, no matter how much you attempt to cover it up, it will show through, if only at a subconscious level.

People will pick up on it. Even if they cannot put their finger on it, they will know something is wrong. But, what?

Since you are hiding how you re really thinking and feeling from them, they will most likely guess what is the matter rather than asking you point blank. Read More

If you’re like most people, you will tend to shy away from conflict and things you don’t like. 

When you don’t like the politics, you’ll sky away from that too.

And that my friend, is a big problem - especially if you want to make progress with other people, because it is all about the politics. Read More

Far too many people are rooted to their own position, their own job, their own immediate vicinity when they're thinking about the world. 

Rightly so, because they've got a job to do. They've got to focus in on what they need to deliver satisfaction to their immediate stakeholders.

The common exhortations:

“Walk a mile in his moccasins.” 

“Seek first to understand.”

“You cannot solve a problem with the same mind that created it.”

All point to the vital need to consider alternative perspectives when approaching difficult situations, people or problems. And for most people, this present a major problem. Read More