Tag: influence | Mariposa Leadership

On “5 Ways to Project Confidence in Front of an Audience”

What makes a great presentation? According to Carmine Gallo, author of the recent HBR article, “5 Ways to Project Confidence in Front of an Audience,” you need to deliver your message with confidence and competence to tap into your full leadership potential.

Whether you are speaking to a large audience or in a team meeting, you still need to look and sound as strong as your content. Check out Carmine’s top five tips to present like a leader with influence.

On “Let This Former Googler Help You Tap The Science Of Persuasion”

To successfully lead you need to master the art of influence. According to long-time product leader for Chrome at Google, Tyler Odean has found that what most people think of as vision is actually persuasion.

In the Fast Company article, “Let This Former Googler Help You Tap The Science Of Persuasion,” Odean presents the science that has informed his approach and the persuasive tactics you can use that will make you more convincing.

When you are preparing a persuasive presentation or message, what steps do you to take to ensure that your argument is more appealing? Consider using his five guiding principles as a checklist before that next big meeting.

March 31, 2018 / Articles We Like / Influencing Skills

On “Is the Confidence Gap Between Men and Women a Myth?”

When it comes to achieving power and influence in the workplace, is confidence the differentiating factor?

In a recent Harvard Business Review article, “Is the Confidence Gap Between Men and Women a Myth?,” Laura Gillen’s research has shown that while self-confidence is gender neutral, the consequences of appearing self-confident are not. According to Gillen, appearing self-confident does not translate into influence the same for men and women. She argues that organizations need to take action and adopt processes and systems that change how women are rewarded equally.

February 28, 2018 / Articles We Like / Influencing Skills

On “How to Increase Your Influence at Work”

Knowing how to influence teams, clients and stakeholders is a crucial aspect of today’s business environment. There is a real value to be recognized as someone with influence – it can help you get important projects done, get noticed, and even promoted.

In a recent Harvard Business Review article “How to Increase Your Influence at Work,” Rebecca Knight outlines some principle do’s and don’ts to be the leader you want to be, regardless of your role or title.

January 30, 2018 / Articles We Like / Influencing Skills

On “3 Ways #MeToo Will Influence the Business World in 2018”

In the wake of recent scandals and controversy sparking the #MeToo movement, there is growing pressure on organizations to reveal more about their cultures and workplace practices. What does this mean for leadership in 2018?

In a recent Inc. article “3 Ways #MeToo Will Influence the Business World in 2018,” Spencer Rascoff, Zillow Group CEO, argues why organizations must first embrace unprecedented transparency and how leaders must shift their focus to HR and company culture.

We each play a role in creating a strong company culture, and the key is combining transparency with trust and respect for all employees.

June 26, 2014 / Leadership

Ask Mariposa | My Performance > My Confidence

Ed asks: I’m a senior executive with a track record of high performance. My performance levels have led to interesting career growth opportunities as well as increasing amounts of responsibility over the years. Given all I’ve achieved, my peers and colleagues believe I have a high level of confidence. But, the truth is, I don’t feel that way inside. I wish I felt as confident as my performance indicates it is. What steps can I take to work on closing this gap?

Eric Nitzberg, Executive Leadership Coach, responds:

Your confidence levels have not become a barrier to performance. However it will take some work to unwind the stories you’ve been telling yourself over the years about your limitations. One way to start working on this is to recognize when your internal narrative is at play. When you are in situations when you are feeling unsure, what are you thinking? How does your body feel? Begin to notice what transpires in these moments, and write them down. Once you’ve identified your internal narrative, you can work on interrupting these habitual responses with more positive experiences. Reflect on prior successes when you’ve overcome similar feelings and have pushed through to positive outcomes. You can also try positive affirmations to change the narrative in these moments, as well as any meditation or mindfulness technique to get centered.

Somatic work might also help you embody your own leadership. Work on getting more into your body to feel and experience your own strength. Practice several ways you might walk into a room, perhaps to give a presentation. Observe the sensations in your body and where you feel them. Notice your posture. What feels good to you? Meditation or mindfulness practices can help with this as well. Practice tightening and relaxing your body while you sit with your eyes closes and notice what you feel. The idea is to consciously embody the strength that resides within.

You might also want to watch Amy Cuddy’s 10-minute TED talk, Your Body Language Shapes Who You Are. In this talk, you’ll learn how standing in a confident stance even when you’re not feeling confident can impact success.

Good luck!

January 31, 2014 / Articles We Like

On "Customer Experience: How To Manage What You Don’t Own"

This article by Erik Long & Will Carter resonates because many businesses today rely on a complex web of external partnerships to deliver value for the customer. While external partnerships are often not within an organization’s direct control, certainly they can be influenced – and they must be – as they are part of the ecosystem delivering on the organization’s brand promise.

The CMO.com article Customer Experience: How to Manage What You Don’t Own shares insights and tips that leaders can apply across all aspects of business, from marketing to human resources, to improve the customer experience. Read it now.

What actions are you taking to identify and influence your company’s unowned touch points? What tools have you used like journey mapping? What other tools do you use to capture and understand your customers’ experience?

Comment below! Or pose a question via Ask Mariposa.

July 2, 2013 / Book Reviews

Book Reviews: Employee Engagement 2.0: How to Motivate Your Team for High Performance and Employee Engagement for Everyone: 4 Keys to Happiness and Fulfillment at Work

Head: (4 out of 5)
Heart: (4 out of 5)
Leadership Applicability: (5 out of 5)

A disengaged workforce can wreak havoc on the best business strategies. Low productivity, decreased customer service, high turnover, low sales and margins are a handful of symptoms a business might experience as a result. The good news is creating engaged teams doesn’t take a lot of time or money, according to author Kevin Kruse, a former Best Place to Work winner, serial entrepreneur and Top 100 Business Thought Leader. Combining research and real-world experience, he explains how to quickly create engaged teams.

Employee Engagement 2.0 is an easy-to-read and practical guide targeted at managers and leaders. The author draws on simple yet timeless principles that form the crux of employee engagement: managers are the key influencers of engagement and communication, growth, recognition and trust are the key engagement drivers. This book outlines the process he used to build and sell several, multimillion dollar technology companies, winning both Inc 500 and Best Place to Work awards along the way.

In this busy leader’s guide, you will learn:

The definition of true employee engagement (not just happy or satisfied)
How engagement directly drives business metrics like sales and profits
A recipe for making anyone feel engaged
How to quantify engagement
7 questions to identify your engagement weakness
How to facilitate a team meeting on engagement
Communication that ensures a rapid, two-way flow of information
How to make your strategic vision “sticky”
How to implement a complete engagement plan in only 8 weeks

While managers are key influencers of engagement, individual employees also assume responsibility for fostering a fully engaged environment. Managers and employees need to work together to build a thriving culture. His new book, Employee Engagement for Everyone is a guide targeted for individual employees, to help them understand what employee engagement is, why it’s important and how a thriving company benefits them personally. The four key engagement drivers – communication, growth, recognition and trust – are reviewed from the perspective of the individual. The book is rich with tips to increase individual employee knowledge and understanding of how to drive engagement on their own in these areas.

The content in these books is actionable, without theories or long-winded language, and includes additional resources for more information. Leaders with business growth strategies will definitely want to read Employee Engagement 2.0, and perhaps give their employees a copy of Employee Engagement for Everyone.

April 23, 2013 / Ask Mariposa / Coaching Skills / HR / Talent Management / Influencing Skills / Strategy

Ask Mariposa: Top 4 Executive Coaching Focus Areas

Daniel asked: Can you share the most frequent areas that you help clients improve on with coaching?

Regan Bach, Executive Leadership Coach, responds:

Great question Daniel and you are not alone in wondering what actually occurs during a coaching engagement. There is a great deal of customizing that occurs with each client’s needs, but here are the Top 4 most frequent areas of coaching focus:

1) Vision/Strategy/Execution

Whether it be for CEOs or new managers, setting a clear vision for yourself and your team is mission critical. From there it’s all about articulating that vision to others, identifying an “actionable” strategy to execute on the vision, mitigating roadblocks, and tweaking the roadmap/trajectory given inputs over time. A good coach helps leaders to a) get very clear on strengths and areas of opportunity to improve, b) articulate personal/team/company vision, and c) helps identify action steps to begin executing on a trajectory for success.

2) Going Slow to Go Fast

In today’s fast paced work environments, leaders jump from task to task, project to project, and initiative to initiative. Rarely do they take time to slow down, unplug, assess the Big Picture, and reflect on what’s working, what’s not working, and what they want to do DIFFERENT moving forward. Coaches act as a forcing function to help support leaders in unplugging, assessing themselves and their environments, and then identifying areas that need their attention. What’s critical is helping today’s leaders not only identify where to show up, but also how to show up.

3) Influencing

This is an area where almost everyone can improve. I have found that individuals, regardless of title, greatly underestimate (and thus under-utilize), their ability to influence others. I spend a great deal of time working with clients to help identify effective and efficient ways to influence both vertically and horizontally throughout an organization.

4) Feedback, Communication and Relationship-Building

Organizations exist because humans create them. Thus, many leaders continually struggle and are challenged by behavioral and/or human-centric issues. At the core, business is all about communication and relationships. Coaches help leaders create clear lines of communication, implement durable feedback loops into their work, and get clear on how and when they message things to others.

April 4, 2013 / Ask Mariposa / HR / Talent Management / Influencing Skills

Ask Mariposa: 3 Tips for Developing Leadership Influence

Andrea asks: I am not in a formal position of power but lead several cross-functional projects and collaboration is critical to our goals. How can I develop more leadership influence?

Susan Bethanis, CEO of Mariposa responded:

You are smart to be thinking about developing leadership influence skills, even as an informal leader. Cross-functional initiatives, flatter management structures and virtual teams which sometimes include third parties have become the norm in business today. Understanding how to influence others is a skill that when honed, serves company goals and your career.

Here are 3 tips:

Consult and Pre-Sell. Meet with stakeholders to share your ideas on achieving a desired outcome. Solicit their reactions and ideas as well. By inviting input and balancing it with advocacy, resistance can be minimized while gaining buy-in.
Know Your Audience, Tailor the Message. Develop clear and compelling messages rooted in short and long-term requirements. Research your stakeholders’ needs and tailor the message based on their interests.
Establish Behavioral Rapport. Match the pace and volume of your speech with that of your stakeholder. Avoid matching negative emotional states. Be conscious of your body language, including posture and facial expressions, as unintended non-verbal cues can undermine effective communication of your message.

Want more?

Read: Smart Work: The Syntax Guide to Mutual Understanding in the Workplace, by L. Marshall and L. Freedman
Inquire about our workshop: Master the Skills of Influence

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