Feb 17, 2010
Here's the situation... you're responsible for
delivering a project. Your boss comes in today and
announces that senior management has decided that you must deliver
your project 4 weeks earlier than originally planned.
You know that the project is already carrying a lot of
risk, and cutting 4 more weeks seems completely unrealistic, at
least from your perspective. Yet it also appears, from
your perspective, that speaking up or pushing back could be job
risking. They aren't looking for your input--they're looking for
you to deliver on the demand.
Sound familiar?
Whether you are a project manager or responsible for
leading a team, we are regularly faced with situations that require
us to influence others. Yet here's my observation:
influence skills are one of the most under-trained areas for many
people today. It's almost as if we think influence training is for
salespeople or lawyers or "those people over in procurement."
{loadposition content_amazonYes}We all can benefit from
developing our influence skills. One of my favorite
influence books in the last couple years is entitled
Yes!: 50 Scientifically Proven Ways to Be Persuasive. I had the
opportunity recently to speak with the co-author of Yes!, Steve
Martin, and look forward to your feedback on the interview in this
cast. By the way, you'll hear Steve share his thoughts on how to
deal with that boss with unrealistic timeframes!
A practical next step to develop your influence skills is
to get a copy of the book that Steve authored with Robert Cialdini
and Noah Goldstein:
Yes!: 50 Scientifically Proven Ways to Be Persuasive. Also,
check out Dr. Cialdini's classic:
Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion.
Steve puts out a very helpful newsletter entitled the Inside Influence
Report. I encourage you to sign-up for it.
If you are interested in developing the influence skills of your
project managers, team leads, or other organizational leaders, give
us a call! Between keynotes, workshops, and executive coaching, we
have a number of ways that we can help your leaders improve their
influence skills. You can contact us toll-free at (866) 884-5323 or
via e-mail at show@i-leadonline.com.
{loadposition content_amazonInfluence}I invite you to join
me in our next episode when I talk with Cornelius Fichtner, the
host of The Project Management Podcast. For those of you
who are certified PMP's and are interested in some helpful ways to
get the required PDU's to maintain your certification, you
particularly don't want to miss this episode!
You can
receive notices of new podcast episodes via e-mail,
allowing you to listen to them more conveniently and in a timely
manner. Sign up here!
And, one last thing! Would you take a moment to let a friend or
colleague know about The People and Projects
Podcast? I'd love to pour into them as well, to help them
lead people and deliver projects.
Thanks for joining us for this episode of The People and
Projects Podcast! Have a great week!
Total Duration: 44:34
