This was my opening message to the board of director's from our Les Olson Board Meeting held in August.
Positive
Influence:
For me, this year has been filled with many
exciting milestones and extreme challenges. I have learned many lessons from
these experiences. We cannot call back time that is past… we cannot stop time
that now is… and we cannot experience the future in our present state…
Time is a gift… a treasure not to be put
aside for the future but to be used wisely in the present.
Things go wrong… We suffer… Misfortune can
cripple our bodies, frazzle our emotions or fog our intellects. Sometimes life
looks so bleak to us that we think we may never recover our former health and
happiness. At times like these, empathy and support from others can be not only
a comfort but a stimulus toward healing.
I witnessed first-hand the power and importance
of being a positive influence and the impact it had in my recovery. Positive
influence can be likened to a liquid that flows into and out of all of us. The character
of what flows into us directly affects our internal state and affects what
flows out of us, inevitably impacting what gets into others around us.
People, places and experiences that provide
positive influence are those that help us move nearer to our desired results
and help us to be better today than we were yesterday. Many if not all of us
can recall times of positive change in our thinking that enabled us to move
well beyond what we initially anticipated.
In working to immerse ourselves in positive
environments and become good influences for others, we must continually be on
the lookout for these four inputs that will:
One- Inspire… by expanding our vision to encompass a better future than
previously thought possible.
Two-
Challenge… by creating a demand to be, do and have greater than what presently
exists.
Three-
Encourage… by providing an external “You Can Do This!” such that it becomes the
recipient’s permanent internal “I Can Do This!”
and
Four- Motivate… by instilling or helping to discover a sense of purpose and
“Why” that becomes a driving force for achievement.
Organizations are relatively simple systems.
What makes them complex is that they are also intricate webs of human
relationships. We need to be able to work well with our boss, our colleagues
and our subordinates to accomplish the results we want. This is not an option
but rather a basic requirement.
Influencing skills are about working
successfully with others. They are a range of behaviors that you can utilize to
get the job done and at the same time build or maintain good
relationships. Sometimes it’s easier to
get the job done by walking all over others, but this destroys the relationship
for the next time. Sometimes it’s easier to give way to other’s demands and
maintain the relationship, but you don’t achieve the outcome you want.
Being an effective leader means being able
to positively influence others. Here are
some examples of behavior that has a positive impact on others:
· Being supportive.
· Challenging others
to be the best they can be.
· Modeling positive
behavior for others.
· Noticing and
promoting skills that motivate others.
· Acknowledging and
appreciating individuals’ skills and talents.
· Listening to others.
· Giving time to
others.
· Setting an example
by continuing to work on yourself.
Broadening and
developing your range of influencing skills will help you:
· Build trust.
· Bring people
together around a common vision.
· Be assertive without
being aggressive.
· Learn to listen
without being perceived as passive.
· Manage conflict to
achieve positive outcomes.
· Get things done with
difficult people.
· Know when to be
strategic and when to be tactical in your influence attempts.
· Understand the
difference between compliance and commitment and have the skill to achieve
both.
· Give helpful
feedback.
· Match your impact
with intention.
· Build good,
long-lasting working relationships.
You never know who’s
watching you... And someone always is… whether your child, your co-worker, your
spouse, your friend, a customer, or even a stranger in another car on the road.
Emotions and inner life states are transmitted like viruses along the vectors
of our words and actions, even from the quietest and smallest.
Nothing can
encourage us like someone else’s good example. They are sometimes few and far
between- but they’re there if you look for them.
Want to create value with your
life? Become a good, positive influence.
~With respect and admiration for all of the positive influences in my life!
JAMES
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