Reboot Podcast Episode Wisdom for Work #30 – The Art of Influence: Building Trust & Connection at Work

Memorable Quotes:

“Influence is the ability to guide thinking, decisions, and actions without having any formal authority. It’s a little bit like building a bridge. You have to connect ideas and people to move things forward.” – Courtney Joyce

“I would like to just acknowledge that influence is much harder for those who are navigating power dynamics, particularly those in underrepresented groups. Research shows that women and people of color often will face additional barriers to influence.” – Courtney Joyce

“The impact we’re able to have on the organization is one of the key pieces of intrinsic motivation that we feel like the work we do matters.” – Courtney Joyce

“To build trust, you have to have credibility, reliability, and vulnerability. And I do think those things are at the core of influence.” – Courtney Joyce

“For senior leaders who might be on an executive team, all of the same check boxes apply, but also, really importantly, getting alignment with the CEO. If you’re on a leadership team, I can think of a lot of examples where I’ve coached very smart, very capable leaders who were, I think, good at their jobs, but did not have alignment with the CEO. And I hate to say it, but typically that does not, that’s not a recipe for a long-term stay at the company.” – Courtney Joyce

“I think some people, like I said, think that to be influential, you must appear strong and polished or in control. But some of the most impactful leaders that I can think of that I’ve worked with are those who embrace vulnerability and lean into it as a connection to build trust and relationships with others. So sharing your real thoughts, your uncertainties, your challenges.” – Courtney Joyce

“Are you controlling or are you influencing? Which I think is a great question for any human in any relationship at work or otherwise in their life.” – Ali Schultz

“How can we get better at influence? Building relationships and a sub-bullet of that is asking questions. So it’s less about having all the right answers and more about having the right questions that uncover shared priorities.” – Courtney Joyce

“The common thread is that influence generally comes from how you make others feel. Respected, heard, valued, and the consistent actions that you do that demonstrate your reliability and judgment.” – Courtney Joyce