When it comes to influencing people, how can you do better?

That's a question many leaders ask themselves...and think about. The question spreads to and sometimes consumes leadership teams - How can we inspire our people to do better?

Leaders can accept the present level of their influence on their followers or they can decide they would like to expand and improve the level of influence they have on their followers.

They can take and make their business more people-focused or they can carry on as is.

If leaders decide they want to influence then they must first adjust their own character/personality.

Perhaps, you find that last statement ridiculous?

• Nonsense - that's the tail wagging the dog!
• Enough - bleeding heart stuff!

Or perhaps, you find it basic common sense?

• Of course - you must give before you receive!
• Yes - that follows Emerson's 'Law of Compensation'.

Thought Tweet #591 Leadership is about meaningful stories well told and important actions well done.

The Thinking Behind The Tweet

When good-to-great leaders tell inspirational stories, their stories are laced with personal values and visions of better future situations. 

Stories well told: call them Sticky Stories...because they stick in people's minds. Sticky stories are remembered.

Actions well done: the most-productive actions are driven by emotions and guided by true desires and goals. 

Stephen Covey teaches 'The 7 Habits of Highly effective People'.

Covey's Habit #2 is 'Begin with the End in Mind'.

In summary - know where you want to go before you waste time and effort doing & going.

That's definitely good advice...however, I think it is more important to 'Begin with the Start in Mind'.

I say this for 2 reasons:

1. Now is as real as it gets. Certainly, it is more real than the future. So, as we go about our business we do better when we get present and be present. Business is not primarily about end points. Business is about a chain of present thoughts, present feelings, and present actions. Business is about envisioning a future and acting now...and now is always the Start...in fact, now is the only time we have.
2. When it comes to highly-effective performance, individual success is intimately tied to individual strengths. When we start business work, regardless of its nature - whether physical work or brain work - we start with a unique personal set of talents. Our innate talents exist prior to the arrival of our work. When work arrives we gain work-knowledge and we gain work-skills and to a degree we learn how to do the work. How much we learn and how well we do work depends on many things including the 'Big 3' - attitude, intelligence, & self-control. Most people know the Big 3 and make efforts to cover them. But - most people do not spend the time required to understand or measure the innate talents that represent the 4th major condition for successful performance of business work. Any serious plan for the future must give quality consideration to individual's innate talents - and do that now.