The Power of Positive Influence
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A positive influence may come in many shapes and sizes. There is a theory I read about, quite a long time ago but that theory left an impact on me. It goes something like this-just the act of observing something can have an influence on what is being observed. In simple terms, to look at something or just be in its presence actually changes its nature. Now if I was to explain what this means I would have to go into a physics lesson and that is not what this is about. The overall principle and how it relates to human behavior and interaction is what I am most interested in.
When we come into contact with other people we need to have the knowledge and inclination to discern whether they will have a positive influence over us or a negative one. While people can have all sorts of influence over each other, there are two general classes that we can examine and those are negative and positive. Negative influences are to be avoided or weakened in their power over you. These are people who are pessimistic, complaining, hopeless, deceptive, and basically believing that life is an endless struggle. Read More→
Motivation And Goal Setting For Success
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Does motivation and goal setting go together? Can motivation and goal setting propel you to your goals? What is more important goal setting or motivation? Continue reading to find out the answers to these important questions.
In this article, you will find:
- A Look At Motivation And Goal Setting And Achieving Success
- Why!
- Getting More Motivated
- A Look At Motivation And Goal Setting And Achieving Success
When we take a look at motivation and goal setting, what are they exactly? If we think of motivation, and consider that motivation is fuel. Then goal setting is guiding that fuel in a given direction.
So, which is more important in motivation and goal setting? They both go hand in hand. The motivation is needed so you can get off the ground and take action. Without a goal there is no need to be motivated, after all what would you be motivated about?! Read More→
Strategic Influence – Packing an Ethical Persuasive Punch!
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If one Googles the phrase “Strategic Influence” we see literally thousands of references to a controversial department of the Pentagon established by the US in the advent of the war in Iraq which has since been disbanded. In contrast the humble program designed several years ago for AIM has arguably less ‘reach’ …. but is still running.
More and more those working for organizations realize the critical importance of being able to wield personal power and the eroded impact and acceptability of positional power in all but a few select (aka military or emergency services) organizations, and even then, only when they are responding to ‘crisis’. This has partly occurred because of the generational shift in the workplace and the fact that many employees left home in their 20′s so that no one would tell them what to do anymore. But it is also because much of what an organization has to do these days to earn true competitive and sustainable advantage revolves around values and culture, ethics and social conscience which are all intangible ‘soft’ aspects of business. One can’t force attitudinal change in the way one can rationalize a product line.
A discussion of strategic influence, namely the very deliberate joining of two words, must firstly be precipitated by a discussion on influence and its uneasy bedfellow, manipulation. It could be argued that both are underpinned by intent, utilize power, both have impact on relationships, both can get results and both can generate choices in the recipient of the respective influence or the manipulation. However influence is more likely to involve the sharing of complete and balanced information that affords “effective choice”, utilizes persuasive power rather than coercive power, tends to engender ownership, not resentment or manipulation’s best case scenario, forced compliance. Read More→
Tony Robbins on Motivation in a Slump
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Tony Robbins made a guest appearance on nbc’s “TODAY” show, America’s #1 morning TV show.
In this interview with Matt Lauer, Tony discussed what it takes to thrive, not just survive, in today’s economic down times.
Using Persuasion and Influence to Lead
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There is a direct link between persuasion and influence, yet they are not exactly the same thing. Persuasion happens with a person purposely or subliminally trying to get somebody else to agree with him or her. That is, there is obvious and deliberate effort.
On the other hand, influence happens when another person agrees with you, not because you deliberately took the effort but because he or she has confidence in you and believes your opinions and suggestions are of importance. You hold a great influence in the way other people think, probably because of your status or your reputation.
Leaders use both persuasion and influence to manage the people under them. It doesn’t matter if this ‘leader’ is at the near bottom or the top part of the organizational hierarchy. As long as there are people whose job is to follow, there are people who lead – and the people being led expect to be given a plan toward success. For the person who has the influence, it is his or her game plan or program for success that is being sought and heeded. Read More→
The Persuasion and Social Influence Phenomenon
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Is persuasion and social influence the same? Can persuasion truly change the way people act and develop societies? You may be surprised to know that societies actually evolve through various persuasive actions of leaders and members. Persuasion and social influence are linked together, in such a way that standards and human laws can change depending on perceived needs and wants.
Identifying the Two Terms
Persuasion is defined as a type of social influence. Social influence is described as the tendency of interacting individuals belonging to the same group or community, to act, share beliefs, and perceive needs based on set social norms. The actions or thoughts of one or more persons can radically change and influence others. In that sense, social influence is also defined as a type of persuasion, making the two congruent or parallel in nature.
The leaders of a given society, known or potential, have the ability to influence the entire system and group according to their own will. There are different types of abilities that can increase the likelihood of a person to affect an entire community. Examples would be rich individuals, prominent families, a professional position, and even good looks. These are factors that can boost credibility and gain the attention of others, leading to successful persuasion and social influence. Read More→
Overt and Covert Influencing
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These days everyone has to be able to influence in some aspect of their lives, be it the workplace or on the personal front. Good influencing is a great skill to have and some people are just naturally adept at it. Whether using a charm initiative, empathy, business acumen, humour, persuasiveness, even persistence, there are all kinds of ways to influence.
There’s one aspect of influencing that might help you prepare your influencing strategy more effectively, and that’s to look at the whole arena in terms of overt or covert influencing.
Here’s how we define the difference.
In overt influencing both you and ‘influencee’ know what’s happening; both of you are conscious of what’s going on. It’s like flirting: you know your doing it and the recipient knows as well.
In the case of influencing it’s as though everyone’s cards are on the table: everyone knows what hand the other ‘holds’.
There tends to be a free exchange of useful information that will be mutually beneficial and all parties prefer things to be transparent. Along with that, agendas and goals are also clear and agreed and the influencing ‘play’ if you will is about how to ‘get there’. Read More→
What is Motivation
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Motivation is of particular interest to Educational psychologists because of the crucial role it plays in student learning. Motivation in education can have several effects on how students learn and their behaviour towards subject matter (Ormrod, 2003). Motivation has been found to be a pivotal area in treating Autism Spectrum Disorders, as in Pivotal Response Therapy.
Motivation is also an important element in the concept of Andragogy (what motivates the adult learner). Motivation by threat is a dead-end strategy, and naturally staff are more attracted to the opportunity side of the motivation curve than the threat side. Motivational strategies need to be applied individually and changed frequently so that they do not become ineffective through over use.
Motivation
According to Geen, motivation refers to the initiation, direction, intensity and persistence of human behavior. Some authors distinguish between two forms of intrinsic motivation: one based on enjoyment, the other on obligation. There is currently no universal theory to explain the origin or elements of intrinsic motivation, and most explanations combine elements of Fritz Heider’s attribution theory, Bandura’s work on self-efficacy and other studies relating to locus of control and goal orientation.
Note that the idea of reward for achievement is absent from this model of intrinsic motivation, since rewards are an extrinsic factor. In work environments, money may provide a more powerful extrinsic factor than the intrinsic motivation provided by an enjoyable workplace. Successful coercion sometimes can take priority over other types of motivation. The self-control of motivation is increasingly understood as a subset of emotional intelligence; a person may be highly intelligent according to a more conservative definition (as measured by many intelligence tests), yet unmotivated to dedicate this intelligence to certain tasks. Read More→