Leadership Influence In The Workplace

US-based employers: over the next few weeks, you're either working around the clock with your managers to protect the healthy norms you've worked hard to create—or watching in dismay as your workplace falls apart. You might have your norms written down on a wall somewhere, and think that's enough to weather this storm. Not even close. You can say the words "collaboration," "respect," "inclusion," and "kindness" all you want, but it's what happens in every team when those norms are violated that defines what kind of organization you are. ⚠️ When team members refuse to communicate with their colleagues who voted for a different candidate, are your managers prepared? ⚠️ When people denigrate or insult their colleagues in Slack or Teams messages or in the chatbox on a video call, are your managers prepared? ⚠️ When a "high performing employee" decides to express prejudiced, exclusionary, and discriminatory ideas about protected groups, are your managers prepared? In workplaces around the country and around the world, these kinds of incidents are far from novel. But when flashpoints happen, like a major election, the fragile balance of a workplace culture is easily upended. Each and every violation that occurs is a test of the norms that workplace leaders purport to have, and when employers fail that test, the consequences can be disastrous—disrupting everyday work, destroying trust in leadership, poisoning team morale and culture, and more. Managers make or break that possibility. 🌱 Your managers must be prepared to mediate conflict. ⛔ Your managers must be prepared to articulate what behavior is tolerated and what isn't. ⚖️ Your managers must be prepared to hold others and themselves accountable for when harm occurs and norms are violated. ⛈️ Your managers must be prepared to support and manage negative emotions, anger, frustration, and grief among their teams. 🚀 Your managers must be prepared to lead by example, even through their own strong opinions or feelings. 📢 And every executive must be prepared to support their managers by establishing expectations from the top, communicating transparently about resources and support options, and coaching managers who need help reaching that standard. If your workplace has taken this challenge seriously, it's already been preparing in this way for weeks and months. But even if you're only starting today, it's never too late to lead.

I was Wrong about Influence. Early in my career, I believed influence in a decision-making meeting was the direct outcome of a strong artifact presented and the ensuing discussion. However, with more leadership experience, I have come to realize that while these are important, there is something far more important at play. Influence, for a given decision, largely happens outside of and before decision-making meetings. Here's my 3 step approach you can follow to maximize your influence: (#3 is often missed yet most important) 1. Obsess over Knowing your Audience Why: Understanding your audience in-depth allows you to tailor your communication, approach and positioning. How: ↳ Research their backgrounds, how they think, what their goals are etc. ↳ Attend other meetings where they are present to learn about their priorities, how they think and what questions they ask. Take note of the topics that energize them or cause concern. ↳ Engage with others who frequently interact with them to gain additional insights. Ask about their preferences, hot buttons, and any subtle cues that could be useful in understanding their perspective. 2. Tailor your Communication Why: This ensures that your message is not just heard but also understood and valued. How: ↳ Seek inspiration from existing artifacts and pickup queues on terminologies, context and background on the give topic. ↳ Reflect on their goals and priorities, and integrate these elements into your communication. For instance, if they prioritize efficiency, highlight how your proposal enhances productivity. ↳Ask yourself "So what?" or "Why should they care" as a litmus test for relatability of your proposal. 3. Pre-socialize for support Why: It allows you to refine your approach, address potential objections, and build a coalition of support (ahead of and during the meeting). How: ↳ Schedule informal discussions or small group meetings with key stakeholders or their team members to discuss your idea(s). A casual coffee or a brief virtual call can be effective. Lead with curiosity vs. an intent to respond. ↳ Ask targeted questions to gather feedback and gauge reactions to your ideas. Examples: What are your initial thoughts on this draft proposal? What challenges do you foresee with this approach? How does this align with our current priorities? ↳ Acknowledge, incorporate and highlight the insights from these pre-meetings into the main meeting, treating them as an integral part of the decision-making process. What would you add? PS: BONUS - Following these steps also expands your understanding of the business and your internal network - both of which make you more effective. --- Follow me, tap the (🔔) Omar Halabieh for daily Leadership and Career posts.

I used to say the right recommendation in meetings and watch it get ignored until someone else repeated it, and suddenly it moved forward. I thought they missed it, but they heard me clearly the first time. I had no power in that room, and my framing made it easy to dismiss. This is what changes as you move closer to executive roles. You will sit in rooms where your title does not carry weight yet. You will still be expected to influence decisions that impact revenue, risk, and direction. Influence is not reserved for people with authority, it is built through how you position ideas. I learned that influence is a system you can apply even with low formal power. Here are 12 ways to do it in practice. Make them think it was their idea by planting logic early and letting them carry it forward. Start with the business problem so leaders engage before forming resistance to your recommendation. Tie your recommendation to revenue, risk, retention, or customer impact so it feels relevant. Bring proof before you speak so your point lands with credibility and not opinion. Present a clear decision with tradeoffs so the room moves toward action faster. Align privately before meetings so public conversations feel like confirmation, not persuasion. Mirror the language leaders already use so your idea feels familiar and easier to accept. Show the cost of inaction so staying the same feels like a risk. Make the first step easy so momentum builds without resistance from the group. Identify who actually influences decisions and build alignment with them early. Ask better questions to surface pressure points leaders are already trying to solve. Close by connecting your idea directly to what leadership already said matters most. This is the work most people miss when they say they are ready for executive roles. Execution gets you in the room, but influence decides if you stay there.

Most bad leadership habits are invisible to the leader – but obvious to everyone else. After working with hundreds of leaders, these seven patterns show up again and again. 1/ Your “feedback” feels like fear  → If people watch their words around you  → If honesty disappears in conversations  → You are creating anxiety, not accountability 2/ You’re fair only when it suits you  → Anyone can be fair on a smooth day  → Real fairness shows up when it’s inconvenient  → Your team pays attention to every inconsistency 3/ You hire smart people but still micromanage  → Control feels comfortable  → But it slows execution and kills trust  → Great people do not thrive under surveillance 4/ You talk far more than you listen  → Leaders who dominate discussions lose them  → Your team stops engaging  → Silence becomes the culture 5/ You’re always “too busy”  → If you have no time for your team  → You’re managing tasks, not leading people  → Being busy becomes your shield 6/ You chase numbers before relationships  → People don’t follow spreadsheets  → They follow leaders they believe in  → Strong relationships drive better outcomes 7/ You think leadership means being right  → The real goal is getting it right  → That requires humility, not ego  → Progress stops when pride takes over Your title might impress people. But your behaviour is what your team remembers. Which one hit a nerve? 📌 Save this for the days when your team feels “off” and you can’t quite explain why. 🔔 Follow Mostyn Wilson for more on real leadership.

People rarely leave companies. They leave environments where they stop feeling valued. Retention is not a policy. It is an experience employees live every single day. No one resigns because of one difficult meeting or one demanding quarter. They disengage when appreciation fades, growth slows, or trust weakens. This visual beautifully captures what truly makes people stay: 💰 Fair Compensation Compensation is not just salary — it signals dignity and acknowledgement. 🤝 Guidance & Mentorship When leaders invest time in people, loyalty follows naturally. 🎯 Meaningful Challenge Talented professionals want to be stretched, not sidelined. 📈 Visible Growth Path Progression fuels ambition. Stagnation fuels exits. 🗣 Inclusion in Decisions Involvement builds ownership. Ownership builds commitment. ❤️ Recognition Appreciation is oxygen for motivation. 🔐 Trust Autonomy inspires performance far more than control ever can. 💡 Empowerment When people are trusted with responsibility, they rise to it. At its core, retention is not about perks or policies. It is about respect, growth, and trust — practiced consistently. For leaders, this isn’t an annual HR initiative. It’s a daily leadership discipline. #EmployeeRetention #LeadershipMatters #WorkplaceCulture #PeopleFirst #TalentLeadership #EmployeeExperience #OrganisationalGrowth

Your brilliant work doesn't guarantee a promotion. One key stakeholder can block your entire path. "I deliver exceptional results, but the CTO just doesn't see my potential." A Sr. Director at a Fortune 500 tech company from Silicon Valley shared this during our coaching call. Her track record? Impeccable - she’d led teams of 100+, managed $120M in budgets, and delivered consecutive years of double-digit growth. But the path to VP remained blocked. ⚡ Here's what we uncovered in our first session: The blocker wasn't performance. It was influence. If you're doing great work but still feeling blocked, you're not alone. Here are 3 stakeholder mistakes that keep leaders stuck - and how my client shifted (and how you can too): 1️⃣ Treating all stakeholders equally The mistake: Overlooking who really controls your next move. ✅ What she did differently: She mapped her stakeholders by influence. She identified the CTO and 2 others as critical influencers and focused on their priorities and pain points. 💎 One strategic champion outweighs ten casual supporters. 2️⃣ Speaking your language, not theirs The mistake: Drowning leaders in technical details, hoping volume equals value. ✅ What she changed: She translated her impact into business outcomes the CTO valued. → "Our automation initiative cut costs by 23% and scaled to 3 new markets" 📊 3️⃣ Avoiding difficult conversations The mistake: Hoping time will fix misalignment. ✅ Her shift: She stepped into the tension with purpose: "What does success look like to you, and how can I deliver that?" → This wasn't just a question - it was a commitment. 🔄 The breakthrough In 90 days, the CTO became her biggest advocate. And his inner circle followed. ✨ The result: VP role + 19% raise in 7 months. Excellence gets you noticed. 👑 Strategic influence gets you promoted. 🎯 Want the full Stakeholder Influence Blueprint? Join 9,100 leaders getting it in this Saturday's issue of my weekly newsletter. Sign up below to make sure you don't miss it.

Let’s be honest — people don’t leave jobs. They leave how those jobs make them feel. Not seen. Not trusted. Not valued. Not safe. They don’t leave on the first bad day. They leave after a hundred small disappointments. Invisible moments.  Missed conversations. Unintentional damage that adds up. And most of it? It doesn’t come from toxic policies. It comes from well-meaning leaders… who didn’t realize what they were doing. Because leadership isn’t just about strategy. It’s not KPIs, status updates, or vision boards. It’s about how your people experience you. Every meeting.  Every email.  Every silence. I’ve learned this the hard way. I’ve made mistakes. I’ve caused damage I didn’t see—until it was too late. And I’ve had to earn trust back… the slow way. So if you're leading people— or want to lead better— this is for you. Here are 8 silent leadership habits that slowly destroy employee experience: 1️⃣ Lack of clear communication → When people don’t know what’s happening, they make up their own stories. → Most of them aren’t good. 2️⃣ Controlling instead of trusting → Micromanagement says: "I don’t believe in you." → That belief matters more than you think. 3️⃣ Overlooking employee input → When people speak and leaders don’t listen, they stop speaking altogether. → Silence is more dangerous than disagreement. 4️⃣ Skipping recognition → Effort without acknowledgment feels like running on a treadmill. → Exhausting. Directionless. Unseen. 5️⃣ Disrespecting boundaries → When work bleeds into life, people start quietly pulling away. → They don’t always tell you—they just fade. 6️⃣ Inconsistent actions → When your words don’t match behavior, trust doesn’t erode—it collapses. → Fairness must feel real, not promised. 7️⃣ Dodging hard conversations → Avoiding conflict doesn’t solve it. → It just hands it to your team, wrapped in silence and stress. 8️⃣ “Do as I say” leadership → People don’t follow titles. → They follow consistency. → Lead with action, or don’t lead at all. 👀 See yourself in any of these? That’s not failure—it’s awareness. And awareness is where great leadership begins. Because this work—the human work— isn’t about perfection. It’s about presence, reflection, and growth. So I’ll ask you this: 👉 Which one of these habits do you need to unlearn? 👉 Which one hurt you when someone else did it? Let’s talk about it. Real leadership starts here.👇 ♻️ Share this with your network if it resonates. ☝️ And follow Stuart Andrews for more insights like this.

Early in my career, I thought sponsorship and mentorship were the same thing. They are not — and the difference shaped how I show up for the next generation. A mentor talks "to" you when you are in the room. A sponsor talks "about" you when you are not in the room. Mentorship is important, but you also need sponsors. Whilst a mentor can coach you about how to improve, you also need access to the rooms where decisions get made. Three things I have learned about closing that gap: 1. Advocacy beats advice. Naming someone for a stretch assignment moves a career further than another coffee chat ever will. 2. Specificity is currency. "She's great" does nothing. "She ran the analysis that reframed our risk view" gets remembered. 3. Sponsorship is reciprocal. The people you elevate become the network that carries your work forward. If you are rising in this field: seek mentors, yes — but identify your sponsors, and make your wins legible to them. And if you have a seat at the table: use it to pull a chair up for someone else. Who sponsored you? It's worth remembering — and worth repaying.

Most leaders I meet know something is wrong with their team. They see the symptoms everywhere. People leaving. Deadlines sliding. The best performers going quiet in meetings. What they can't see is themselves and their own patterns. The small behaviors destroying trust daily. I watched a VP lose her entire product team in six months. She solved every problem herself. Her team stopped thinking and caring. And they eventually left. The behaviors that break teams are rarely dramatic. They are quiet and almost invisible to the person doing them. Here are 9 leadership behaviours that quietly destroys trust: 1. The Leader Who Solves Everything: The team stops thinking for itself. When people lose ownership, performance dies. 2. The Leader Who Confuses Activity With Progress: Endless meetings, updated dashboards, busy calendars, but nothing actually ships. Teams burn out on motion without movement. 3. The Leader Who Is Present Only During Success: Visible during wins and hard to find when things go wrong. Teams remember who stood with them when it mattered. 4. The Leader Who Preaches Culture But Models Chaos: 'We value work-life balance,' they say at 11 PM on Slack. People trust actions, not your speeches. 5. The Leader Who Lets Standards Slip: One missed commitment becomes two. Excellence disappears in the gap between what you say and what you tolerate. 6. The Leader Who Treats Ideas as Territory: If the idea is not theirs, it never moves forward. Innovation dies in rooms where ego wins over curiosity. 7. The Leader Who Avoids Hard Truths: They soften feedback to stay liked. They postpone tough conversations. Problems grow while clarity shrinks. 8. The Leader Who Competes With Their Own Team: Instead of elevating people, they try to outshine them. High performers sense this insecurity first. 9. The Leader Who Invests in Loyalty, Not Growth: They promote familiarity. They overlook potential. The best people stay silent at first. Then they leave. Leadership is not about being impressive. It is about being trusted. And trust breaks quietly, one behavior at a time. Which of these red flags have you seen damage a team? Drop the number below and tell me how it played out. Repost this and follow me for leadership, organisational culture and neuroscience based insights.

"I'll just wing it. I'm good on my feet." A Managing Director said this before walking into a $50M budget approval meeting. He walked out empty-handed. After 25+ years watching high potential executives crash and burn in "the room where it happens," I've learned something most people miss: 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗹 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸 𝗵𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗲𝗻𝘀 𝗯𝗲𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘄𝗮𝗹𝗸 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗿𝗼𝗼𝗺. Influence isn't about charm. It's about preparation. Here's an approach you can put into practice today to immediately up your influencing impact. 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗔𝗱𝘃𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗪𝗼𝗿𝗸 𝗙𝗿𝗮𝗺𝗲𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸: 𝟭. 𝗠𝗮𝗽 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗣𝗼𝘄𝗲𝗿 (𝗡𝗼𝘁 𝗝𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗢𝗿𝗴 𝗖𝗵𝗮𝗿𝘁) • Who really makes the decision? (Hint: Not always who you think) • What keeps them up at night? • Who do they trust for input? One client discovered the "junior" person in the room was the CEO's former chief of staff. Guess whose opinion mattered most? 𝟮. 𝗕𝘂𝗶𝗹𝗱 𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗖𝗼𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗕𝗲𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗬𝗼𝘂 𝗡𝗲𝗲𝗱 𝗜𝘁 The worst time to make allies? When you need them. Smart executives plant seeds months before the harvest: • Coffee with the skeptics • Informal temperature checks • Strategic information sharing By the time you're pitching, you already know who's with you. 𝟯. 𝗞𝗻𝗼𝘄 𝗧𝗵𝗲𝗶𝗿 𝗟𝗮𝗻𝗴𝘂𝗮𝗴𝗲, 𝗡𝗼𝘁 𝗝𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗠𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗮𝗴𝗲 Match your message to their metrics: • Revenue-focused? Show growth • Cost-conscious? Show savings • Risk-averse? Show mitigation Same idea. Different frame. Completely different outcome. 𝟰. 𝗣𝗿𝗲-𝗦𝗲𝗹𝗹 𝗘𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗧𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗠𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘀 The meeting isn't where you sell. It's where you confirm. If you're introducing new information in the room, you've already lost. The best executives I know follow this rule: 𝗡𝗼 𝘀𝘂𝗿𝗽𝗿𝗶𝘀𝗲𝘀 𝗶𝗻 𝗯𝗶𝗴 𝗺𝗲𝗲𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘀. 𝗘𝘃𝗲𝗿. That person who always seems to "get lucky" with approvals? They're not lucky. They're doing 10x the advance work you are. While you're perfecting your slides, they're having strategic hallway conversations. While you're rehearsing your pitch, they're addressing objections before they're raised. 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗕𝗼𝘁𝘁𝗼𝗺 𝗟𝗶𝗻𝗲: Your ability to influence has very little to do with your charisma in the moment. It has everything to do with the relationships you've built, the intelligence you've gathered, and the groundwork you've laid. Stop counting on spontaneous charm. Start investing in strategic preparation. Because in the C-suite, there are no successful surprise attacks. 🎯 When was the last time you walked into a crucial conversation truly prepared—not just with data, but with deep insight into every person in that room? Be honest. Your next promotion might depend on it. ------------ ♻️ Share with someone who needs to stop winging it and start winning it ➕ Follow Courtney Intersimone for more truth about what really drives executive success