Learning to be an influencer can be a challenging task for many, but its value in both leadership and everyday life is significant. One of the greatest misconceptions about influence is how we approach it.
Many of us would approach it from a ‘my side’ perspective, where we aim to persuade and ultimately win over the other party to join and agree with our argument. But, what has happened to looking at the situation from ‘their side’?
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From life as a Corporate and Olympic Strategist, turned Leadership Development Expert, Katharine McLennan encourages us to celebrate the ‘I don’t know’ moments that allow us to use our imagination and think creatively – something we might not otherwise allow ourselves to do on a daily basis.
Giving ourselves permission to live with ‘I don’t know’, ultimately gives us “the ability to really start to trust ourselves a lot more.”
McLennan unearths the need to trust our intuition as it allows us to “look at the complex patterns of what’s going on in the world” so that we can begin to take in what we need “to do, change and react to” in our agile society. Influence itself relies significantly on our ability to intuit and to read a situation.
“Strategy without execution is a day dream…and execution without strategy is a nightmare. And either without leadership does not exist.”
Japanese Proverb
In order to learn how to become a better influencer and a more effective leader, McLennan explores the need to put ourselves on ‘their side’ and delve into their curiosities and perspectives on the world – as before one can influence decision, action & strategy, one must first know who others are influencing.
With this in mind, McLennan is quick to also highlight the importance of ‘respect’ as we explore ‘their side’ - it reminds us to “look again and see what else you can see.” People are always changing, and we should be “looking for greatness, constantly. So let’s clear our mind and see the potential.”
Having worked with people from an array of industries, McLennan is passionate about helping others to see their potential and believes that catching them “in the act of doing something powerful and giving feedback on what they did well” is a stepping-stone to their own personal realisation.
Katharine McLennan joined us at the