The leader's guide to influence : how to use soft skills to get hard results

Shortlisted for the CMI Management Book of the Year 2011, Practical Manager Category

The Leader's Guide to Influence will show you how to step up your people skills and improve working relationships so you can get the business results you want.

Combing the hugely popular areas of influence and leadership, this book will show you how to step up your interpersonal effectiveness by learning how to work more successfully with those around you, be they people you manage, colleagues, client or business partners.

Through a combination of practical exercises, case studies and no-nonsense advice, this book shows you how to:

Increase your confidence and impact.

Communicate more effectively.

Learn different tools, techniques and approaches when working with different types of people.

Listen and question effectively.

Develop rapport and empathy.

Give better feedback.

Deal with difficult situations and cope with conflict.

• Acknowledgements p. ix
• Introduction p. 1
• 1 Your relationships: get them right p. 5
• 2 What's your relationship style? p. 14
• 3 Understanding my relationships p. 24
• 4 What makes relationships go wrong? p. 38
• 5 Relationship networking p. 49
• 6 Creating the right impression p. 55
• 7 Listening p. 66
• 8 Quality questioning p. 72
• 9 Trust and authenticity p. 79
• 10 Rapport and empathy p. 89
• 11 How to become more self-and others aware p. 100
• 12 Emotional awareness and management p. 110
• 13 Being politically astute p. 120
• 14 How to handle conflict p. 129
• 15 Giving and receiving feedback p. 139
• 16 Managing challenge p. 149
• 17 How to be appreciative p. 161
• 18 Reframing p. 170
• 19 The language of influence and relationship p. 183
• 20 The art of storytelling p. 193
• 21 Your approach to influence p. 205
• 22 And finallyà p. 220
• References and Booklist p. 222
• Index p. 225