Celebrate the 20th Anniversary of Exercising Influence!

Our Global Partner: Momentum Group, Israel

Influencing In Complex Organizations

By Aviad Goz, Chairman of the Momentum Group,
Creator and CVO, N.E.W.S. Navigation

Influence in organizations has never been so complex. People from different generations work side by side. People who come from different cultures with different set of values work together. Matrix organizations have dramatically changed the way people work with one another, often with no direct authority and from a remote location. For example, the Purchasing Department employee operating from New Jersey has to influence the head of Food and Beverage in Shanghai regarding which lunch ingredients to purchase for employees in a factory in India.

Within this complexity, I believe there are three major elements that can increase the influence of a manager in an organization today:.

Continued on the Barnes & Conti Blog

A Note from Our Facilitators:

Influence Skills: A Fresh Interpretation from Looking at Why Rather than How

By Nelson Soken, Ph.D.

I’ve facilitated workshops both as an internal and external consultant for many years. After reading Simon Sinek’s book, Start With the Why, I’ve been considering how I can use the techniques and content that I teach and apply it to myself. As a trainer, I needed to ask myself: “Am I focusing too much on the what and the how of delivering training while forgetting the more important question of why I do what I do (e.g. why I recommend particular behaviors to participants)?”

In thinking about the why, I’ve been inspired to step back and reflect on my own intentions and motivations as a facilitator and trainer. Is my ultimate goal to get those great “five out of a possible five” course evaluations that provide validation of my presentation style and knowledge? After all, our job is to deliver outcomes that truly transform people and “move the needle” in their organizations. Training is about results— which are not easily measured. But understanding why something works may be the key to accomplishing those real results. So how much do I and others who train and facilitate really give thought to the why of what we teach?

When it comes to influence skills, influencing others requires each of us to admit that we are ego-driven. As human beings, we are usually “I” focused—what I think, what I feel, and what I have experienced makes up most of our internal map of the world. We are all subject to many unconscious biases and in many instances, we’re not very effective at taking the perspective of others. In being bound by our own thoughts, feelings, and experiences, influencing others requires us to create an interpersonal connection, develop empathy, and build a level of trust. Influence, first and foremost, happens in the mind of the other person. In fact, recent research has shown that influence happens in the limbic brain—where emotions respond to external situations and cause us to make decisions before we have processed information with our rational neo cortex. If we begin with this recognition, how might we interpret some of the approaches we have recommended over and over again? What is the why for each of them? Here are three examples from the Exercising Influence workshop:

Continued on the Barnes & Conti Blog

Updates from Barnes & Conti

We’re doing a lot of exciting work with online learning and influence skills coaching. Contact us to discuss how this can fit your needs. In addition, we have two public programs coming up (see below).

Upcoming Open Enrollment Programs

Exercising Influence

• October 23, 2014, Berkeley, CA

Consulting on the Inside

• October 24, Berkeley, CA

See the full schedule on our website to register online

Recipe: Shakshouka

In honor of Momentum Group, our Global Partner in Israel, we’re featuring a recipe for eggs that is popular all over North Africa and the Middle East. Try it for brunch or a light supper. The eggs are poached in a sauce of tomatoes, onions, sweet red bell pepper, and garlic, seasoned with paprika and cayenne.

Ingredients:

• 8 eggs, the fresher the better
• 8-10 ripe tomatoes, romas or another paste tomato preferred
• 1 large onion, coarsely chopped
• 1 large bell pepper, sliced into about 1 inch lengths
• 2-4 large cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tsp. or more smoked paprika*
• 1/4 tsp. sea salt
• Pinch cayenne pepper, or to taste
• 2 tbsp. olive oil

Method:

1. Prepare the tomatoes: if the skins don’t bother you, dice the tomatoes in half-inch dice and save them with their juice. Otherwise, drop them into boiling water, parboil for 2-3 minutes, and let them cool. The skins should peel off easily. You can then mash the tomatoes in a bowl and reserve the juice.
2. In a skillet large enough to poach all the eggs (preferably no stick), sauté the onion in the olive oil over medium high heat until the onion begins to caramelize (10-15 minutes).
3. Add the bell pepper and garlic and sauté until the bell pepper begins to soften and the garlic browns a bit.
4. Add the tomatoes and the salt, turn up the heat to high, and stir and mash the tomatoes until a coarse sauce begins to form. Add the paprika and the cayenne pepper.
5. If the sauce is watery, let it boil a bit to thicken. Otherwise, turn the heat down to a simmer, and simmer the sauce for about 10 minutes.
6. Carefully break the eggs into the sauce, one at a time. Cover the skillet, and let it simmer at a lively simmer until the eggs are done to your liking.
7. Serve 2 eggs per person. Have lemon wedges and hot sauce (harrissa, the fiery North African hot sauce made from sweet and hot peppers and garlic is recommended).

For an even more Israeli/Middle Eastern experience, serve with oven fries that have been baked with a generous amount of olive oil, salt, garlic, lemon, and oregano, until the thick potato strips are crisp on the outside.

Serves 4

*For smoked paprika, look for tins marked “Pimenton de la vera, dulce” in the spice section of your grocer. Dulce means that it’s not the spicy smoked paprika.

 

 

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