HIGH TECH LEAPS AHEAD – HI-TOUCH LAGS BEHIND
Have you ever been in a meeting or interview and had an idea or perspective you wanted to share, but didn’t have the confidence or a way to get “in” to the conversation?
Are you often in a role where you have more responsibility than authority, and can’t get people to see things “your” way?
You might say you need better communication skills to have a more strategic way of making sure you get your ideas and opinions across.
We call it “Influence Skills”. And in the new business and work environment of right now, we’re all going to need more of it!
Studies by the World Economic Forum and the Harvard Business Review predict that “Influence and Communication Skills will be the #1 skillset required for success today.”
And this is especially true for the IT or tech professional – often an underserved group when it comes to training or development. You get professional updates on the technology in your field, maybe you get management or supervisory skills if you get a promotion.
Several trends and changes in our current environment make this skill set even more essential.
Some of these trends are:
1. Competition
Competition seems to be heating up everywhere – between countries, between companies, even within the company. You may be competing with your peers for promotions, choice assignments, face time with management. You’ll surely need Influence Skills to beat out the competition.
2. Structures
Organizational Structuresare changing in rapidly accelerating ways. Most organizations are becoming flatter, less hierarchical. This is partly the result of much streamlining, downsizing, and reorganizing. Staff roles become much more important in this kind of structure, and there is much more need for interdepartmental and cross-functional collaboration. People at all levels must learn new sets of skills – Influence Skills – in order to survive in this “matrix” type of organization (some have called it the new “ad-hocracy”)
3. Information Overflow
The sheer amount and speed of information swirling around us makes it challenging to sift through, determine what is important and learn how to communicate it in lay language. I’m sure you’ve had the experience of speaking to non-IT personnel and them responding that they don’t understand what you’re talking about.
4. Innovation
Innovation is no longer just the province of research or development. Now, we are all required to come up with innovative solutions to problems. But good ideas are just that, until you can influence someone to take action. So, we are all going to have to become better influencers.
5. Technology
–Of course, technology is all around us, and thank goodness – we wouldn’t be able to do our zoom meetings, conferences, etc.
Although we are all connected , in some ways, as a famous futurologist once said, “high tech leaps ahead, high touch lags behind”. We’re losing our interpersonal skills. i.e. Influence
And as a tech person, you can certainly appreciate the advantages, but also realize that your interpersonal skills need to be fine-tuned to get your opinions and ideas heard and valued
So What is Needed?
With all these changes and uncertainties going on, neither WHAT (your technical or professional expertise) you know nor WHO you know (your network of contacts) will guarantee your success. Your technical know-how can become obsolete with the next innovation, and even your network of carefully acquired contacts can vanish overnight with a surprise reorganization.
What will help? Portable Power (TM) Influence skills – a set of skills you can take with you anytime, anywhere you are in any organization.
I’d love to invite you to my next FREE EXECUTIVE BRIEFING, “SECRETS OF INFLUENCE™” on June 9th, at 2 pm Eastern Time
I’ll share
- Why influence matters now
- Myths and misconceptions about influence
- The true meaning of “Influence”
- The one “secret of Influence™” you can apply right now
You can register here:
Register for Exec. Briefing June 9
You’ll learn that Influence Is not a magical power bestowed on a lucky few, but a strategy, a set of skills that anyone can learn, practice and master.
