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Impact and Influence

Influencing and gaining others' support.
Level 1 Appeals to reason

BEHAVIORS

  • Persuades by appealing to reason.
  • Uses available data to persuade.
  • Presents information in a confident manner.
  • Uses concrete examples to make a point.

QUESTIONS

  • Tell us about a time when you were able to gain others’ support by presenting logical arguments.

Probing Questions

* What were you working on?

* Describe the types of information you collected.

* What resources did you use when doing this information collection/research?

* How did you go about organizing the information?

* How did this contribute to what you were working on?

  • Describe a situation in which you presented facts and information to persuade others or to make a point.

Probing Questions

* Describe the situation, including your role and that of others.

* What point were you trying to make/on what issue were you trying to persuade others?

* How did you present the information?

* Was this a formal / informal session?

* How did the audience / individuals react to this information?

Level 2 Appeals to others' interests

BEHAVIORS

  • Adapts arguments to others' needs/interests.
  • Anticipates others' reactions.
  • Uses the process of give-and-take to gain support.
  • Considers others’ viewpoints when formulating a persuasive rationale.

QUESTIONS

  • Please describe a time when you anticipated or predicted the effect on others of an unpopular communication that you delivered.

Probing Questions

* Describe the situation, including your role and that of others.

* What information were you presenting? How did you present it?

* How did you predict the reaction of the others?

* What did you do given your prediction of others' reactions?

* What was the outcome?

  • Describe a time when you had to convince someone else to see your point of view.

Probing Questions

* Who were you trying to convince, and on what topic?

* How did you present your arguments?

* How do you know you were successful / not successful?

Level 3 Capitalizes on success

BEHAVIORS

  • Builds on successful organizational initiatives to gain support for ideas.
  • Anticipates others' reactions to build on and keep momentum and support for an approach.
  • Makes multiple, tailored efforts to persuade (e.g., one-to-one and group discussions, presentations, demonstrations).

QUESTIONS

  • Have you ever correctly predicted how a person or group was going to react to a sensitive situation or a particular approach to something? Describe such a situation and how you capitalized on this understanding in order to maintain or build support for the situation or approach.

Probing Questions

* Describe this situation.

* What reaction did you anticipate?

* How did you build on their reactions in order to gain the support you needed?

* What was the outcome of the situation?

  • Describe a time when you needed to make multiple efforts to persuade or influence a group of people to support a particular project or task.

Probing Questions

* What was the project / task?

* Why did you need to gain people's support?

* Describe the various efforts you made in order to gain their support.

* How successful were you in getting support?

Level 4 Builds coalitions

BEHAVIORS

  • Builds "behind the scenes" support for initiatives.
  • Builds coalitions of partners to support proposals.
  • Uses experts or other third parties to influence.

QUESTIONS

  • Please describe a time when you developed a linkage or relationship within or outside your organization, in order to gain support for an approach or initiative?

Probing Questions

* Who was involved? What issue/initiative was involved?

* Why was this linkage/relationship important?

* Describe how you developed or built the linkage /relationship.

* How did you attempt to gain support for the approach/initiative?

* What was the outcome?

  • Describe a circumstance where you had to influence the position or point of view of others and to do so you needed to build support “behind the scenes."

Probing Questions

* What was the issue you were seeking agreement on?

* Who did you seek support from?

* How were they influential among the group you were seeking agreement from?

* What was the outcome?

  • Describe a situation when you asked an expert, or someone else from outside of your work area, to influence a situation?

Probing Questions

* Who were you trying to influence or persuade?

* What did you want to persuade them of?

* Who did you bring in to help convince them of your point?

* What was the outcome?

Level 5 Uses complex influence strategies

BEHAVIORS

  • Uses an understanding of competing interests to maneuver successfully to a win/win outcome.
  • Uses chains of indirect influence (e.g., get A to do B, which in turn will influence C).
  • Gains support by capitalizing on an understanding of political forces affecting the organization.

QUESTIONS

  • Describe a time when your understanding of competing interests enabled you to successfully influence others and to reach an objective.

Probing Questions

* What were you trying to achieve?

* How did you use your understanding of competing interests to your advantage?

* How did your action impact on the achievement of your objective?

* Could you describe a time when you were able to gain support by capitalizing on the understanding of political forces affecting the organization?

Probing Questions

* Describe the situation.

* What were you trying to gain support for?

* What steps did you take?

* What was the outcome?