Lead with influence to build trust and an effective team
Leadership has moved on a long way from simply telling people what to do. These days, the best leaders pull their people together. Leading an effective team means you’ve created a group of people who work proactively together towards goals that would be impossible to achieve alone.
That sounds good, doesn’t it? But how do we create this successful team dynamic?
The first step is to come away from a command-and-control leadership style. Whilst a directive, authoritative approach might achieve results in the short term, it will create resistance, frustration and negativity over time and it will slowly chip away at trust. People want to be inspired, not coerced.
Influence works better than authority
Influential leaders take the time to understand what motivates each person in their team, what’s getting in their way and what they’d most like to contribute. It all starts with listening.
What's the difference between influencing and telling?
When you’re influencing, you're supporting your team, listening to their concerns and doing something about them, and working alongside them so they can see and buy into a shared vision. On the other hand, when we talk about command leadership it’s more like a dictatorship. Command-style leaders use authority and fear to get people to act. People are told what to do. There’s little room for variance or free thinking. If they don’t do as they are told, they fear the repercussions.
To influence your team well, you need to become partners, sharing ideas, knowledge and growth, and encouraging everyone to do the same. Remember that the team's success is your success. Ego will make you enemies; empathy will produce allies.
Adapt your leadership style to each person
Leading everyone in exactly the same way doesn’t work. Your support should be tailored to each person’s strengths. Highlight and address their areas for growth with sensitivity. You’ll find this will be repaid with respect in the long run. . Understanding different personalities makes this much easier, and a DISC profile is a practical place to start.
Create a shared purpose
Finally, get more curious. What energises each member of your team? Do you know their core values? What do they need from you to feel fully engaged and motivated? Listen to them intently and work together to set shared goals no single person could tackle alone.
Yes, influential leadership takes work
You need to understand different personalities, , resolve conflict, and maintain your composure when there are challenges. But look at it this way…
You’re allowing artists to colour outside the lines, encouraging engineers to indulge their geeky, innovative sides and giving creatives permission to pursue projects that are close to their hearts. This will not only boost their self-confidence and give them a sense of personal achievement, but it will ultimately enhance their performance too. It boosts their confidence and gives them a sense of personal achievement, and over time you’ll see it in their performance too.
Isn’t that the type of leadership that’s worth working towards?
FREE DOWNLOAD | Building Trust Through Conversations
If you’d like to build your influence through trust, the Building Trust White Paper is a good next step. It shares what I learned from senior leaders about the everyday conversations that build trust, with reflective questions to try yourself. Download it free here.
If you’d like to help your managers lead with more influence, have a look at my leadership programmes, or do get in touch.
Hi, I’m Sarah Harvey, Leadership, Teams and Conversations Specialist, who helps leaders and teams have the right conversations, in the right way, at the right time, so they get better results and build stronger relationships. Drawing on 35 years in workplace communication, culture and conflict, and my MSc in Organisational Psychology including research into how leaders build trust through everyday conversations, I work with senior leaders and people teams across the private, public and third sectors.
FAQs
What is leadership influence?
Leadership influence is your ability to bring people with you without relying on your position to make them. It comes from trust, listening and understanding what matters to each person, so people choose to commit rather than simply comply.
How can a leader build trust with their team?
Start by doing what you say you’ll do, and saying so early if something has to change. Make time for regular one-to-ones, be open about the reasons behind decisions, and involve people in solving problems. When mistakes happen, including your own, acknowledge them quickly and put things right.
Is command-and-control leadership ever the right approach?
There are moments where it helps, such as a crisis or a safety issue where someone needs to make a clear call quickly. The trouble comes when it becomes the default. Over time, people stop offering ideas and wait to be told, which is the opposite of an effective team.