Political Skills for Leaders – 5 essential skills for influencing others

Political skills for leaders are skills that are essential for anyone who wants to be more effective in influencing others. Building agreement, alignment and alliances with businesses enable you to deliver significantly more – which helps you, your team, and the overall business. Political skills in management start with yourself and developing personal skills. We cover self-awareness, self-control and being proactive which are all very important skills when thinking about how to influence others at work.  Influencing others  is not an underhand activity, or about manipulation. Being honest and sincere is a critical part of how to influence others as a leader. Other important interpersonal skills include listening, thinking before speaking, being curious and managing upwards well.  Being good at reading people and situation is very important in management and doubly so when influencing others and using political skills for leaders. Less than 10% of communication is in the words being said.  Political skills for leaders is also about building alignment and alliances between leadership team members and those in the various management layers. When you have leaders and managers aligned, you have massively better chance of delivering on your project or activity as everyone is support rather than pursuing their agendas and moving in different directions.  When influencing others, it is important to keep in mind the strategic direction and goals of the business and team. This keeps you on track and moving everyone in a consistent direction which produces better results.  You can get so much more done within a business when you are able to use political skills in management positions.  Even if you are not yet in management positions, you can use political skills when managing stakeholder and those you rely on and report to. Doing a better job and achieving more will move your career progress forward faster.  Enjoy practicing your skills!

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