1.
Influence Without Authority:
Applying the Art of Motivation
(aka, mind tricks of the Jedi masters)
Presented by Andrea L. Ames @aames
IBM Senior Technical Staff Member /
Information Experience Strategist & Architect

2.
About Andrea
 Technical communicator since 1983
 Areas of expertise
 Information architecture and design and interaction design for
products and interactive information
 Information and product usability—from analysis through
validation
 User-centered design and development process
 IBM Senior Technical Staff Member
 University of CA Extension certificate coordinator
and instructor
 STC Fellow, past president (2004-05), and member of
Board of Directors (1998-2006)
 ACM Distinguished Engineer
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3.
Why influence?
 If you can:
 Write three pages
 Design two UI panels
 Create five icons
 Track 10 project work items
 Write 100 lines of code
in a day, how many are produced when three people are tracking,
writing, designing, creating? Ten? 50? 300?
 Have you ever had a great, innovative idea and want it implemented
in your organization?
 Are you expert at every aspect of technical communication or
project management? If so, do you have the bandwidth to be a one-
person show?
 Most complex situations require multiple judgments, skills, and
experiences
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4.
From Wikipedia, influence is…
 When the actions or thoughts of individuals are changed
by another individual
 Amount of influence you exert often determined by your
confidence/self-esteem and perceived persona
 Ability to influence also affected by your perceived
expertise, or credibility—others’ trust of you and your
knowledge or skill
 Sometimes seen as persuasion, guiding people toward
the adoption of an idea, attitude, or action by rational and
symbolic (though not always logical) means; a problem-
solving strategy relying on "appeals" rather than strength
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5.
Black magic?
 Lots of people think of it this way
 Charisma
 Goodlooks
 Money
 It’s a talent
 You’re born with it
 It can’t be learned,
developed, refined,
improved
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How I like to think of it
 It’s something you
acquire via your actions
and attitude  Inspiring enthusiasm
 Leadership—the ability to  Getting things done
(from Tom Peters) through others that you
 Inspire could not achieve alone
 Liberate  Managing yourself and
 Achieve
your attitude
 Gaining respect and trust  Leading in every direction
 Setting and  Staying sane
communicating a clear  It’s not black magic
vision with enthusiasm 6

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Critical components of respect
 Treat others with the respect you want
 Trust: Be honest; admit mistakes; be candid and direct
in a timely manner
 Integrity: Meet your commitments; don’t over commit;
set expectations clearly, and meet or exceed them
 Personal responsibility: Be quick to take the blame, slow
to place it
 Transparency: Whenever possible (if your job role
enables it – e.g., not a manager) err on the side of being
more open/transparent vs. less
Live personal responsibility and accountability – be the exemplar
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Critical components of sanity
 Recognize that people are unpredictable
 Recognize that some people are just difficult, having a
bad day, believe that business relationships are based
on like/dislike, etc.
 In the end, you can really only take responsibility for you;
recognize when you have a management issue and deal
with it directly and unemotionally
Live personal responsibility and accountability – be the exemplar
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What does this mean for us, as
individual leaders?
“With great power comes great responsibility”
 Understanding why people follow others means using
that understanding responsibly
 There is a hard way and an easy way—and they will
seem counterintuitive
 Harder: Causing others to change their minds
 Easier: Creating an environment of influence
 Others trust you
 They recognize value in your ideas
 The buy into and sponsor your ideas
 They execute those ideas 9

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Causing others to change
 Why is this hard?
 It’s outward-focused
 You can’t change others
 Focusing on your sphere of influence vs.
your sphere of control (which will affect
your sphere of influence)
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Creating an environment of
influence
 Become a leader
 Lead/manage yourself, first
 Focus on your sphere of control (you)
 That will positively impact your
sphere of influence (our
relationships with others)
 Our biggest hurdle is us
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12.
Creating an
environment of
influence
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Where do you start?
 Goleman’s emotional intelligence
 Covey’s 7 habits
 Maxwell’s approach to attitude
& 360-degree leadership
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What is “emotional intelligence?”
“The capacity for
recognizing our own feelings
and those of others,
for motivating ourselves,
for managing emotions well
in ourselves and
in our relationships.”
-- Daniel Goleman
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Emotional intelligence domains
Self Others
Self- Social
Awareness 2 Awareness
Knowing what we feel at Sensing what people are
the moment and using that feeling, understanding the
Awareness to guide our decision- perspectives of others, and
making cultivating rapport
1 3
Relationship
Self
Management
Actions Management
Handling emotions in relationships
Handling our emotions
so that they enhance 3 well, being able to read social
rather than interfere with situations accurately, and using
performance these skills to persuade, lead,
and negotiate
Source: Primal Leadership, by Daniel Goleman, Harvard Business School Press, 2002.
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The seven habits
Dependence  Independence  Interdependence
 Private victory:
1. Be proactive
2. Begin with the end in mind
3. Put first things first
 Public victory:
4. Think win/win
5. Seek first to understand…
then to be understood
6. Synergize
7. Sharpen the saw
Source: The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, by Stephen Covey, Simon & Schuster, Inc., 1989.
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Attitude is everything
 Our attitude determines our approach to life
 Our attitude determines our relationships
with people
 Often our attitude is the only difference between
success and failure
 Our attitude at the beginning of a task will affect its
outcome more than anything else
 Our attitude can turn our problems into opportunities
 Our attitude can give us an
uncommonly positive perspective
Source: Attitude 101, by John Maxwell, Thomas Nelson, 2003.
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Lead in every direction
 Key lead-up principles
 Lead yourself exceptionally well
 Lighten your leader’s load
 Invest in relational chemistry
 Become a go-to player
 Be better tomorrow than you are today
 Key lead-across principles
 Understand, practice, and complete the leadership loop
 Put completing fellow leaders ahead of competing with them
 Expand your circle of acquaintances (network)
 Let the best idea win
 Key lead-down principles
 See everyone as a “10” (give them an “A”)
 Develop each team member as a person
 Model the behavior you desire
Source: The 360° Leader, by John Maxwell, Thomas Nelson, 2003.
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OK, I’m influential…now what?
 It’s time to get execs to “buy” and sponsor
your ideas!
 Influencing “up” effectively means:
 Knowing what’s important to them – “what keeps you
up at night?”
 Speaking their language – in terms of revenue, costs,
value, loyalty, time, productivity
 Making them look good
 Letting them take credit
 Being accountable – committing, delivering, and taking responsibility (good and
bad)
 Articulating value of results
 Continually improving and adding to personal value
being delivered
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OK, I’m influential…now what? (cont.)
 It’s time to team!
 Teaming effectively means
 Delegating
 Leading and following
 Having my expertise and acknowledge others’ expertise
 Bringing my strengths to the team and recognizing and
leveraging the strengths of others
 Valuing the diversity across the team
 Committing to the team and recognizing others’ commitment
 Being accountable to the team and expecting the same of others
 Making some sacrifices, committing some time, and being
unselfish in order to win and develop personally and professionally
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Overcoming
Obstacles
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Just because you’re influential doesn’t
mean things will always go smoothly
 Common personal obstacles
 People are people, and they are sometimes negative,
often have their own agendas, and really hate change
 I disagree; that’s not my agenda
 It’s not my job
 …  you’ve probably heard them all
 Taking initiative without ruining relationships
 Others that you’re facing?
 It takes time to develop and maintain the
relationships that underlie influence, and you
need to plan for that
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Influencing people
 Build the emotional bank account (Covey)
 Seek first to understand, then to be understood (Covey)
 Lead across (Maxwell)
 Put completing fellow leaders ahead of competing with them
(WIIFT – consider everyone a leader)
 Expand your circle of acquaintances
 Let the best idea win (stay open; it might not
be yours)
 Synergize (Covey)
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Taking initiative without ruining
relationships
 Exceeding your authority – messing with
folks higher up in the food chain
 Lead up: Lighten your leader’s load (Maxwell)
 Become a go-to player (Maxwell)
 Stepping on toes – messing with
your peers
 Buildthe emotional bank account (Covey)
 Lead across: Put completing fellow
leaders ahead of competing with
them (Maxwell)
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A few parting thoughts…tough love 
 People do what they see.
 If you are an anointed leader, take a good, long, hard look at your team, and you will
see what they see when they look at you. This is a very hard and uncomfortable
introspective exercise. If your team is not behaving in the way you would like, what are
you doing that’s inspiring that behavior?
 If you are a team member, take a good, long, hard look at yourself, and you will see
the example you believe your leader is setting. Only you can control your behavior.
You don’t have to be the mirror image of a bad leader. Lead yourself better than your
leaders lead you—even the good ones!
 Buck up, folks. Our world is all about change. If we don’t change, we stagnate
and become unimportant to our employers and clients. And lose our jobs or
contracts. If that doesn’t motivate you, nothing will. 
 Sometimes, you have to escalate. Get management involved in the real
management issues. And if your manager is not resolving the issue and not
explaining why it isn’t an issue, you might need to escalate further. This will
make you extremely unpopular. Learn how to partner with management to
resolve these kinds of issues before you are forced to take extreme measures.
 Business is not a popularity contest. Care less about people liking you, and
more about doing the right thing, having integrity, being respected. If you can
learn how to do this without alienating the people around you, you will have
mastered the art of the influence, or the Jedi mind trick.
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Resources
 The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People,
Stephen R. Covey
 Emotional Intelligence: Why it can matter more than IQ, Daniel Goleman
 The 17 Indisputable Laws of Teamwork: Embrace Them and Empower Your
Team, John C. Maxwell
 The 360° Leader, John C. Maxwell
 Attitude 101, John C. Maxwell
 The Wisdom of Teams: Creating the High-
Performance Organization, Jon R. Katzenbach and
Douglas K. Smith
 Leadership, Tom Peters
 Influencer: The Power to Change Anything, Kerry Patterson
and Joseph Grenny
 The Charisma Myth: How Anyone Can Master the Art and
Science of Personal Magnetism, Olivia Fox Cabane
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Questions?
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Contacting/following/connecting
with Andrea
E-mail: aames@pobox.com
Twitter: @aames, @TMWLala, @strategicIA
Facebook: www.facebook.com/alames,
http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Strategic-IA
LinkedIn: http://
www.linkedin.com/in/andreaames
Blog: thinkmorewriteless.wordpress.com/
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Backup
Emotional Intelligence details
Teaming details

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Components of emotional intelligence
Definition Hallmarks
Self-Awareness • The ability to recognize and understand • Self-confidence
your moods, emotions, and drives, as • Realistic self-assessment
well as their effect on others • Self-deprecating sense of humor
Self-Regulation • The ability to control or redirect • Trustworthiness and integrity
disruptive impulses and moods • Comfort with ambiguity
• The propensity of suspend judgment— • Openness to change
to think before acting
(Self management)
Motivation • A passion to work for reasons that go • Strong drive to achieve
beyond money or status • Optimism, even in the face of failure
• A propensity to pursue goals with • Organizational commitment
energy and persistence
(Self management)
Source: “What Makes a Leader?” Daniel Goleman, Harvard Business Review, Nov-Dec 1998.
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Components of emotional intelligence (cont.)
Definition Hallmarks
Empathy • The ability to understand the emotional • Expertise in building and retaining talent
makeup of other people • Cross-cultural sensitivity
• Skill in treating people according to their • Service to clients and customers
emotional reactions
(Social awareness)
Social Skill • Proficiency in managing relationships • Effectiveness in leading change
and building networks • Persuasiveness
• An ability to find common ground and • Expertise in building and leading teams
build rapport
(Social awareness)
Source: “What Makes a Leader?” Daniel Goleman, Harvard Business Review, Nov-Dec 1998.
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Components of emotional intelligence (cont.)
Definition Hallmarks
Influence • Finding the right appeal for a given listener • Very persuasive
• Knowing how to build buy-in from key • Engaging when addressing a
sponsors group
• Building a network of support for an initiative
(Relationship management)
Developing Others • Understanding goals, strengths and • Show genuine interest in others
weaknesses • Natural mentor or coach
• Providing timely and constructive feedback
(Relationship management)
Source: Primal Leadership, by Daniel Goleman, Harvard Business School Press, 2002.
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Leading teams means delegating
 If you are the delegate-ee, you might feel like “delegating”
means “unload the scutwork onto someone below me”
 In a healthy teaming environment, with a good leader,
“delegating” means making opportunities for people to grow and
develop
 As a leader, ask yourself
 What am I or others doing today that others could learn and grow from?
 What are the aspirations of the people on my team, and how can I make
opportunities for them from within the pool of work that needs to be done?
 How can I grow people to replace me?
 How can I ensure that I’m not the only person in the room with all the
answers? That I don’t need to be at every meeting?
 If you are feeling overworked,
overwhelmed, and out of bandwidth –
especially when you think about
making time for your own career
development – there’s a good chance
you’re “hoarding” potential opportunities
for others  33

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John Maxwell’s 17 laws of teaming
 Significance: One is too small a number to achieve greatness
 The Big Picture: The goal is more important than the role
 The Niche: All players have a place where they add the most value
 Mount Everest: As the challenge escalates, the need for teamwork elevates
 The Chain: The strength of the team is impacted by its weakest link
 The Catalyst: Winning teams have players who make things happen
 The Compass: Vision gives team members direction and confidence
 The Bad Apple: Rotten attitudes ruin a team
 Countability: Teammates must be able to count on each other when it counts
 The Price Tag: The team fails to reach its potential when it fails to pay the price
 The Scoreboard: The team can make adjustments when it knows where it
stands
 The Bench: Great teams have great depth
 Identity: Shared values define the team
 Communication: Interaction fuels action
 The Edge: The difference between two equally talented teams is leadership
 High Morale: When you’re winning, nothing hurts
 Dividends: Investing in the team compounds over time
Source: The 17 Indisputable Laws of Teamwork, by John Maxwell, Thomas Nelson, 2001. 34

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Team obstacles
Combat weak links with the Law of Dividends and
1. My team has weak links (Law of 1.
investing in Covey’s emotional bank account! Invest
the Chain) in team skill building, coaching, and mentoring.
Rotten attitudes are tough. You can try to find an
2. My team has rotten attitudes 2.
underlying cause and address it. Some people are
(Law of the Bad Apple) just negative. If it’s bad enough, it can be a
management issue.
3. My teammates are self- 3. Establish the importance of the goal over
centered (focused on their teammates’ roles by telling them WIIFM (what’s in it
for me). If you reach your goal, how do each of your
role and the importance of agenda-holding teammates benefit or prosper?
4. Teammates must be countable and accountable.
that role) and have personal This issue quickly becomes a challenge for
management to handle. Very carefully delegate
agendas (Law of the Big Picture) with clear, documented expectations. Get your
manager’s advice. Check in often with your
4. I can’t count on my delegate-ee and your manager to determine and
report progress. If things fall apart, get your
teammates (Law of Countability) manager to step in.
If you are bringing new members onto an existing
5. My team doesn’t share the 5.
team, get buy-in around values by telling new
same values (Law of Identity) teammates WIIFM (what’s in it for me). How does
execution against the team’s values benefit them?
If you are starting a new team, let the team develop
and codify the team values! Nothing engenders
buy-in like ownership!
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Recognition
 There’s no such thing as too much
 Be very careful to reward the right people – nothing eats away at team
morale like feeling that someone else got recognition for your work
 As a team leader, I recognize my team for all of the team’s successes
and take responsibility for all of the team’s upsets—specifically, I try to:
 Send a lot of mail to managers throughout the project to note the small
victories and little extras of my teammates
 Find opportunities for my team to get accolades from “the big wigs” (execs,
architects) for our successes
 Reward “good attitude” and recognition of my team from outside my team
 Use “I” and take ownership of resolving the issue, if I must report that the
team is behind schedule, not delivering what was expected, etc.
 This is a personal style, but it has worked very well for me
 I believe my teams know that I support them and am willing
to take a bullet for them, thus they are much more likely to
go the extra mile for the team (sometimes just for me)
to ensure success
 So much of team leadership is about trust and rapport…
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