Increasing Your Influence at Work All-in-One For Dummies

Dr. Christina Tangora Schlachter, PhD, is the founder and Chief Leader of She Leads and creator of the Leading Change Guide, which helps leaders reinvent themselves and their companies with a 12-week turnaround process.

• Introduction 1About This Book 1Foolish Assumptions 2Icons Used in This Book 2Beyond the Book 3Where to Go from Here 3Book 1: Body Talk: Influencing Through Communication and Body Language 5Chapter 1: Building Effective Verbal Communication Techniques 7Great Communicators Are Made, Not Born 8Verbal Communication: When Words Matter Most 9Cooperative Language: Verbal Communication at Its Finest 12Chapter 2: Grasping Nonverbal Cues 21Noting Nonverbal Techniques that Speak Volumes 21Becoming an Expert in Active Listening 30Chapter 3: Defining Body Language 35Discovering How Body Language Conveys Messages 36Examining Key Types of Gestures 41Getting the Most Out of Body Language 47Appreciating Cultural Differences 51Chapter 4: Working with Different Communication Styles 53Taking On Direct and Passive Communication Styles 54Saying Yes to Assertiveness 58Knowing Your Communication Style 60Sharpening Your Communication Style 62Chapter 5: Influencing through Communication 67Understanding the Importance of Effective Communication 67Communicating Quicker than the Speed of Conscious Thought 69Understanding Why People Say Yes 70If You Have the Need to Influence, You Get to Do All the Work 72Navigating the Political Landscape 73Ethically Influencing and Persuading for Results 76It Takes Two to Influence 77If You Aren’t Getting the Desired Results, Change Your Communication 89Chapter 6: Influencing through Body Language 93Creating a Positive Environment 94Pointing Your Body in the Right Direction 99Negotiating Styles 104Book 2: Exerting Influence Through Important Conversations 109Chapter 1: Conversations in Good and Bad Times 111Using Critical Conversation Tools to Develop Superstars 112Coaching with Critical Conversations 114Making Everyday Conversations Count 118Opening Your Culture to Conversation 120Preparing for a Performance Conversation 122Having Conversations When Performance Is Suffering 122Turning Poor Performers into Productive Performers 130Keeping It Close to the Chest: Confidentiality Is Critical 131Chapter 2: Hot Topics in Team Conversations 133Creating a Productive Team 133Improving Team Behavior 140Chapter 3: Staff Disputes 143Getting Results When Employees Aren’t Getting Along 143Considering Expert Tactics for Handling Staff Disputes 147Resolving the Five Biggest Staff Disputes 153Chapter 4: Workplace Complaints 159Addressing Workplace Complaints 160Using Critical Conversations When an Issue Is Raised 164Digging into Workplace Complaints 165Bringing in a Mediator 168Moving Forward after Tough Workplace Conversations 171Chapter 5: Difficult Behaviors 173Defining Difficult Behaviors 174Keying in on Difficult Behaviors 175Using a Critical Conversation to Turn Around Difficult Behaviors 178Building a Toolbox: Action Plans for Difficult Behaviors 180Finding the Words for Special Circumstances 184Stepping in When Bad Behavior Becomes a Pattern 188Chapter 6: Customer Conversations 191Helping Customer Relationships 191Providing Exceptional Customer Service 193Handling a Customer Who Crosses the Line 197Delivering Bad News to Clients 199Keeping Your Customers 201Book 3: Peace Talks: Having Influence When You’re the One Involved in Conflict 203Chapter 1: Identifying What Both Sides Want 205Asking Yourself What You Really Want 206Thinking about What the Other Person Wants 211Taking a Look at Both Sides 214Chapter 2: Asking for a Meeting to Talk about the Conflict 219Considering the Best Way to Approach the Other Person 219Preparing for Resistance 222Setting a Time and a Place for a Productive Discussion 228Chapter 3: Sitting Down to Talk through the Issues 231Preparing to Mediate Your Own Conflict 232Getting the One-on-One Started 233Sharing Perspectives 236Creating an Agenda 244Looking for Win-Win Solutions 247Concluding the Discussion 250Chapter 4: Tailoring Your Approach to the Organizational Chart 253Resolving Issues with Someone You Supervise 254Addressing Conflict with a Peer 262Having One-on-One Conversations with Your Boss 264Book 4: Go, Team! Building Influence Across Teams and Functions 269Chapter 1: Driving Engagement through Team Development 271Yay, Team: Identifying Characteristics of an Engaged Team 272Stormin’ and Normin’: Exploring Tuckman’s Stages 274From a Distance: Leading Teams from Afar 282Hit Me with Your Best Shot: Conducting a High-Impact Team Workshop 283Chapter 2: Improving Organizational Communication 285Mind the Gap: The Great Organizational Communication Fissure 286Establishing Two-Way Communication 287Building a Communication Protocol 290Maximizing the Various Communication Tools 293Communicating Change 301Communicating Your Engagement Efforts 304Looking at a Few Communication Don’ts 305Chapter 3: Strengthening Team Performance with Mindfulness 307Identifying and Harnessing Team Dynamics 307Improving Team Performance by Staying Focused on the Important Stuff 312Enhancing Internal and External Business Relationships 318Boosting Team Morale and Effort 323Chapter 4: Using Mindfulness to Assist Different Business Functions 329Mindfulness for Human Resources 330Mindfulness for Occupational Health 336Mindfulness for Learning and Organizational Development 338Mindfulness for Customer Service 341Mindfulness for Marketing and PR 344Book 5: Boomers and Beyond: Influencing Across Generations 347Chapter 1: Driving Engagement across Generations 349Boom Baby: Working with Baby Boomers 350X Marks the Spot: Working with Generation X 354Working with Millennials 358Putting It All Together 363Chapter 2: Encouraging and Facilitating Collaboration among Generations 367Shifting Your Perspective on Collaboration 368Reconciling Differences: Independent Xers versusCollaborative Millennials 370Onboarding Millennials 376Training Millennials 378Mentoring Millennials and Vice Versa 379Building a Collaborative Infrastructure 382Chapter 3: Supercharging Your Feedback Loop 389Giving Feedback in the Instantaneous Age 390Rethinking the Review Session 392Realizing that Feedback Is a Two-Way Street 403Acting More Like a Coach Than a Boss 406Troubleshooting Common Feedback Issues 406Chapter 4: Motivating Millennials — Generation “Why?” 411Managing for Meaning 412Compensating the Noncompensation Generation 417Rewarding Millennials 421Chapter 5: Dropping Workplace Formalities 429Distinguishing Between Formality at Work and Work Ethic 430Drawing the Fine Line between Manager and Friend 442Channeling Your Inner Emily Post: CommunicationEtiquette 445Book 6: Who’s The Boss? Becoming an Influential Company Leader 451Chapter 1: People Who Lead People: Engaging Employees through Leadership 453Distinguishing Management versus Leadership 454Surveying Leadership-Based Engagement Drivers 455Understanding That Leadership Starts at the Top 456Identifying the Behaviors and Traits of Engaged Leaders 458Here Comes the Train Again: Training Managers to Become Engaged Leaders 462Put Me In, Coach! Coaching for Engagement 464Do This, Not That: Looking at Leadership Best Practices 468Chapter 2: Establishing Trust 471Surveying Ideas for Building Trust in Business 471Defining Trust and Needs in the Workplace 473Getting Others to Trust in Your Leadership 477Setting Standards for Others by Example 479Harnessing People Power 482Chapter 3: Motivating the Masses 487Peeking into the Human Motivation Theory 488Helping People Find Their Meaning and Purpose Again 496Practicing and Reinforcing Motivation 499Chapter 4: Thriving on the Challenges of Leadership 505Thriving Rather Than Surviving 506Being a More Mindful Leader 509Practicing Mindful Leadership 512Coping with Stress and Pressure by Building Resilience 517Chapter 5: Leading People, Change, and Strategy 521Leading Mindfully When Change Is the Norm 521Creating Strategies That Allow the Organization to Flourish 525Creating a More Mindful Organization 533Index 539