Bu siness skills: b et ter me etings 1 — 21 business englisch bu sin es s e n g L is

accountable to sb.: be ~ 
,
jmdm. gegenüber 
verantwortlich sein
clarity 
[(klÄrEti]
,
Klarheit
driver
,
Antriebsfaktor, 
Beweggrund
goal
,
Ziel
proactive: be ~ 
,
die Initiative ergreifen, 
selbst aktiv werden
set oneself up for sth.
,
sich für etw. rüsten
think big 
ifml.
,
in großem Maßstab 
denken 
FURTHER 
READING
The Seven Habits 
of Highly Effective 
People (30th 
Anniversary Edition, 
2020), Stephen R. 
Covey, Simon & 
Schuster UK
“The Future of 
Jobs” reports: 
https://www.weforum.
org 
CHECKLIST FOR 
MANAGING YOUR 
PERFORMANCE 
• Accept that change is happen­
ing all around you and that 
inaction is not an option.
• Determine and accept what you 
can and cannot influence.
• Seek to influence what you can 
change.
• Understand your drivers: your 
purpose, motivation and value.
• Set performance goals: think 
big and be ambitious.
• Take control of your perfor­
mance and be proactive.
• Start today!
MIKE HOGAN
is 
a performance 
coach, communi-
cation skills 
trainer and 
former head of 
people. Contact: 
careers@business 
-spotlight.de

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34 
Business Spotlight
1/2021
CAREERS
Fo
to: pins
to
ck/iS
to
ck
.com
LEADERSHIP
Andere davon zu überzeugen, was sie tun sollen, ist im Berufsalltag unerlässlich.
Wer ein Team oder ein Unternehmen leitet, muss daher vor allem fähig sein, Einfluss auszuüben.
Von BOB DIGNEN
ADVANCED
AUDIO PLUS
Using your influence

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35 
1/2021
Business Spotlight
CAREERS
commitment
,
Engagement
inevitable 
[In(evItEb&l]
,
unvermeidlich
innate 
[)I(neIt]
,
angeboren
on time
,
fristgerecht
persistent
,
andauernd
reluctance
,
Widerwille,
Zurückhaltung
Persuasion at work:
not always easy
THIS ARTICLE 
WILL HELP YOU 
TO...
• understand 
the barriers to 
influencing others
• use a “5-C” 
process to 
influence others 
more effectively
• develop an action 
plan to influence 
a key individual
O
ne of the persistent challeng-
es of working life is how to 
persuade other people to do 
what we need them or want 
them to do — and, ideally, to do this faster 
and better. For example, we might need 
them to provide us with information, 
complete a task, take a decision or inno-
vate in some way.
We shouldn’t be surprised at the per-
manence of this challenge. Everyone 
has their own job description and work, 
so why should others be interested in 
involving themselves with our work? 
Asking this question is the starting point 
for understanding the phenomenon of 
influence. 
False interpretations
Instead of seeing people’s reluctance to 
do what we want them to do as some-
thing inevitable and natural, we typi-
cally experience it as a source of frustra-
tion. We often think that people don’t 
cooperate because they are, well, unco-
operative. We see their failure to deliver 
what we need on time — and with the 
desired quality — as a demonstration of 
their inefficiency, lack of commitment, 
incompetence or unprofessionalism. 
We may even see their failure to deliver 
as some form of innate human aversion 
to change. Our conspiratorial inter-
pretations quickly become ridiculous.
“The key to 
successful leadership 
is influence,
not authority”
Ken Blanchard, US leadership expert

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