Are You Maximizing Your Influence as a Leader?

Influence, according to the online edition of the Oxford Dictionary, is "the capacity to have an effect on the character, development, or behavior of someone or something." This is an important competency for all of us as leaders. As one HR study has shown, it's essential to develop "positive chemistry with key stakeholders . . . [and to] translate this positive chemistry into influence that contributes to business results."
Exerting influence as a leader is difficult, however. Many of us get sidetracked by external forces, letting factors outside of our control affect our mind-set (and thus we catch ourselves saying things like, "If only they would . . ." or "I would be happy if . . ."). We let our perceptions about others, the role we're in, the company culture, and other variables get in the way. Of course these external factors do cause challenges (the "stuff of life," as I call it) and it's important to be aware and acknowledge them, but our stability and influence does not lie in them.
So how do you, as a leader, move beyond these barriers and maximize influence?
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Lead Your Team Past Perfection and Toward Innovation

It is hard to imagine perfection as the enemy of innovation, but indeed it is often the other side of the innovation coin. If you have ever managed a perfectionist—someone who gives equal detail-oriented effort to all things and thus gets fewer things done, misses deadlines, and may be critical of others who do not hew to the "rules"—you know how this trait can be a two-edged sword. Today's competitive marketplace demands quality, but it also needs the speed and flexibility of innovation.
This means that leaders must sometimes coach their staffers to move beyond a perfectionist ideal. Given the pressure on organizations to innovate in every position with smaller workforces, each staff member must learn instead to consistently perform at a high level (but not necessarily perfection) on a daily basis. This shifting of focus requires you to help your perfectionist do five things.
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Free Webinar: The HR Organization of Tomorrow June 5, 1-2 p.m. EDT

Once again business necessity is calling us to shift our focus and retool our approach to HR. The fact is, the current strategic HR department is akin to the old personnel department—simply serving as a partner isn't enough anymore. Business agility is pushing HR organizations to rethink both roles and structure. The future of our industry now requires complete HR integration into business operations so that HR becomes a "talent producer."
To help you better understand and manage this transition, FlashPoint is offering a free webinar on Wednesday, June 5, from 1 to 2 p.m. EDT. During the webinar we'll share how establishing a business-driven HR function will lead us to adjust our teams, technologies, and skills (yet again) and what you can do now to get ahead of the curve.
To sign up for the free HR Organization of Tomorrow webinar, register online.
This program has been submitted to the HR Certification Institute for review.

Meet Us at the SHRM Marketplace, June 16-18, Chicago

Next month thousands of HR professionals will meet in Chicago for the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) annual conference and exposition, and FlashPoint will be there. We'll have an exhibit at the "world's largest HR marketplace," which is open from June 16 to 18.
If you're joining the fun in the Windy City, we invite you to visit our booth (#3841).
Details about the conference are at SHRM's website.