- Robert Rowell
- March 24, 2025
- Leadership
Executives doubted the iPhone’s success, insisting a phone without a physical keyboard—like BlackBerry’s—would never work. Investors scoffed at Airbnb, convinced no one would ever rent their home to a stranger.
Game-changing ideas often face skepticism. Strategic Influencing turns doubt into opportunity.
How do you get your manager to better understand the needs of his/her employees? Or how do you focus your team leader on the importance of attention to a specific issue or the nuanced delicacy of a single communication detail to a value-driven partner? Afterall, it’s not always what we have to say but it’s actually how we say it that can impact a successful outcome.
We used to call this “managing up.” But in today’s adaptive workplace, we’ll call this – “Strategic Influencing.”
Strategic Influencing in the workplace is about shaping decisions, driving change, and gaining buy-in from coworkers, management, and enterprise leadership – oftentimes, without direct authority.
Effective Strategic Influencing combines the elements of communication skills, strategic thinking, and emotional intelligence.
Communication Skills
Strategic Thinking
A mix of ability to see and understand the big picture and systems thinking (understanding the importance of interconnectedness of various business functions/departments), analytical and critical thinking skills, adaptability, and problem-solving capability.
Tips to Strengthen Strategic Thinking – develop an understanding of the office dynamics and informal power structure within your organization – this will help you anticipate resistance and develop a plan for counterarguments; build alliances and leverage relationships across departments and hierarchies – ask your colleagues in other departments to lunch or organize an out-of-office group activity; do whatever it takes to learn your business to develop credibility and trust – be consistent, reliable, knowledgeable, and efficient. Become the “go-to” person.
Emotional Intelligence (EI)
The ability to recognize, understand, and manage one’s own emotions as well as the emotions of others. Empathy and Respect are critical drivers of EI. Respecting and understanding the views and opinions of others will unlock creativity, promote teamwork & collaboration, improve communication, reduce workplace stress, and strengthen customer relations – all of these elements lead to enhanced interpersonal skills amongst team members, which in turn, makes it easier to build and strengthen relationships with customers and clients, improving service and retention.
Tips to Strengthen EI – sharpen your skill set to be able to “Read the Room” – become an active listener. You don’t always have to be the person talking. Observe the body language in others (crossed arms, eye contact, facial expressions, energy in the room, etc..); Be agile, adaptive, and resilient in your approach – be open to feedback and don’t get discouraged. Initial resistance can often be persuaded with respectful persistence.
Ready to Break BarrierZ?
The road to change starts here, and we got you every step of the way!
BBZ’s Employee Training & Development platform provides the necessary tools to enhance communication strategies and create an adaptable work culture. Crafted by our team of educators, legal experts, and industry leaders, our programs prepare employees to navigate leadership from start to finish.
Key Takeaways
The best influencers aren’t the loudest in the room; they’re the ones who understand people, read situations, and communicate with purpose. As with Bridging the Generational Gap, it takes more than leading to truly engage a team. Strategic Influencing is how you shape decisions, gain buy-in, and drive change, all without a fancy title. And most importantly:
Initial resistance can often be persuaded with respectful persistence.
