Established leadership coach Stacey Hanke has worked with a number of major education institutes – including the University of Chicago – as well as household corporations like Coca-Cola, Milwaukee and McDonalds. She says that regardless of industry or organisation, there are always four myths which tend to hold leaders back.
“The biggest myth is that influence means we turn it on when we need it the most,” she tells the Educator. “You see people do this in a presentation or a high stakes meeting but when you do that, you don’t come across as authentic or genuine.”
To be truly influential, Hanke says leaders must be consistent – both in their message and body language – from Monday to Monday.
“No matter who you’re talking to, no matter what medium you’re pushing that message through, the more consistent you are with it, the more people don’t have to guess – that’s when you really start eliminating all doubt in your listener’s mind,” she explains.
Secondly, Hanke says leaders often assume that as they become more senior, they’ll also become more influential – despite making no changes to their attitude or behaviour.
The third misconception that often catches leaders out is that if they feel happy or confident while communicating, they’re having an impact.
“We often rely on our feelings to determine how influential we are,” explains Hanke. “But how we feel and what we believe to be true can be vastly different to reality.”
Finally, the fourth misconception – one that becomes more common as leaders ascend within an organisation – is around blindly trusting the feedback from friends and colleagues.
“When we ask; ‘How do I do?’ so many times we’re told; ‘Good, nice job!’ and we rely on that without really questioning it,” says Hanke.
“That becomes worse and worse as people move up the ladder because the feedback becomes rarer and less honest.”
While there a number of pitfalls waiting to undermine leaders’ influence, Hanke says there is an incredibly effective way to get to the truth.
“The best way to test yourself is by using audio and video,” she tells HRD. “When you record yourself in action – giving a presentation, talking to a group, even on phone conversations – you’re going to finally get an opportunity to experience yourself the way your listeners experience you.”
Hanke – who recently penned ‘Influence Redefined: Be the Leader You Were Meant to Be, Monday to Monday’ – says it’s not uncommon for leaders to be shocked when they see or hear their own behaviour played back to them.