Natural Influence

June 5, 2008 by Mary Wynne-Wynter 

People expect results from personal, professional and organizational change programs.

Individuals, executives and business owners make the connection that shifting beliefs, relying on presence and not just strategy, and responding to problems from a higher emotional and social IQ aligns with their personal and organizational bigger games.

But I often hear some version of the question “to what end?”. There’s a need to experience some positive result that reinforces the work of change.

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I suggest noticing your natural influence and realizing it as a wonderful, and often unexpected benefit of increased self-awareness.

I call it natural influence as derived from the root meaning “flow into” and contrast it to the more widely used meaning that I label “artificial influence”.

Relating to others with natural influence may feel soft and vulnerable and “too easy” at first, but its an authentic point of power for communications leadership, building trust, gaining support and developing and deepening relationships.

Stories about the positive impact of natural influence that I’ve recently heard, or personally experienced include: