Influence: Gaining Commitment, Getting Results (J-B CCL (Center for Creative Leadership))

Influence is an essential component of leadership. Your position in an organization and the power it gives you aren’t always enough to motivate people to do what you ask. Developing your influence skills can help you gain commitment from people at all levels: direct reports, peers, and bosses. This book includes an assessment tool to help you determine the influence tactics you currently use. Some tactics depend on logic, others appeal to emotions, and others are cooperative appeals. You may discover tactics you rarely use, and you can develop those tactics to become more effective. You will learn what to do before, during, and after an influence session. Every influence attempt can become a learning experience, and you can continue to enhance this crucial leadership capability.

This series of guidebooks draws on the practical knowledge that the Center for Creative Leadership (CCL) has generated, since its inception in 1970, through its research and educational activity conducted in partnership with hundreds of thousands of managers and executives. Much of this knowledge is shared-in a way that is distinct from the typical university department, professional association, or consultancy. CCL is not simply a collection of individual experts, although the individual credentials of its staff are impressive; rather it is a community, with its members holding certain principles in common and working together to understand and generate practical responses to today's leadership and organizational challenges.
The purpose of the series is to provide managers with specific advice on how to complete a developmental task or solve a leadership challenge. In doing that, the series carries out CCL's mission to advance the understanding, practice, and development of leadership for the benefit of society worldwide.

David Baldwin is a CCL faculty member based at the San Diego campus. Since 1995, he has managed and delivered leadership initiatives, including global blended learning programs, for CCL clients. As an executive coach, he engages clients to consider how to maximize their influencing capabilities. David holds a B.A. in speech communication from San Diego State University and an M.S. in organizational communication studies from Illinois State University.

Curt Grayson is a senior program associate at CCL’s San Diego campus. He is a full-time faculty member and specializes in leadership and team assessment and development, executive coaching, influential leadership, and organizational transformation. Curt holds a B.S. in psychology from San Diego State University, an M.A. in clinical psychology from Rosemead School of Psychology, and a Ph.D. in organizational psychology from California School of Professional Psychology in Los Angeles.