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By Posted on Posted in Influence, leadership No Comments Tagged with , ,

By B. Kim Barnes

Most of our important business, professional, and personal relationships are ongoing. Relationships in which we communicate and influence one another develop a history. Any specific influence opportunity or event is affected by the past and helps shape the future of the influence relationship. In other words, every time you influence someone you are making it either easier or harder to influence him or her the next time.

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By Posted on Posted in Communication, leadership No Comments Tagged with , , , ,

I have often run an exercise in workshops in which the participants create an emblem that represents what they stand for – what they want the world to know about them. They then meet in small groups and without saying anything about it, show that emblem to the others, in turn. Each person, when they are the focus of the group, shows the emblem but offer no other information at first. The others are to learn as much as possible about the focus person, using the information on the emblem, but may not agree, disagree, or offer feedback. They are specifically asked not to offer either negative or positive evaluation, but they may ask questions and the focus person may answer them.

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By Posted on Posted in communication skills, leadership, Leadership development, Soft Skills, Trust No Comments Tagged with , ,

A few years ago, author Connie Cass cited an Associated Press poll showing that nearly two-thirds of the Americans in their sample had low trust in others – compared to only one-third in a similar poll forty years earlier. It’s easy to blame this on increasing urbanization, on the media’s “if it bleeds, it leads” approach to informing us about the world, on greater use of the internet with fewer face-to-face social interactions, or perhaps the increasing rancor of our politics has “tribalized” our society and set us against one another.

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By Posted on Posted in Exercising Influence, leadership, Leadership development No Comments Tagged with , ,

…So what are the images of the so-called “new leadership”? According to the article, “…And now, with remote and knowledge work limiting the usefulness of other sources of power, informational influence is becoming an increasingly important power.” The new leadership is founded on informational influence!

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By Posted on Posted in Inspirational leadership, Kim Barnes, leadership No Comments Tagged with , ,

by B. Kim Barnes
Reprinted from a LinkedIn article from February 28, 2022

As I watch, spellbound, the drama unfolding in Ukraine, I see everything I’ve ever learned or taught about inspirational leadership being demonstrated on the streets of Kiev. Volodymyr Zelensky, comedian turned political leader, has manifested every aspect of the model at right [1] – and in doing so, has influenced world leaders to take unprecedented actions to support him and his people. In recent years, we have seen political leaders provide poor examples – showing a lack of courage, self-awareness, constancy, empathy, and generosity of spirit, among other qualities. It’s hard to know what the outcome of this situation will be, but he has provided us with an inspiring example of how to lead under the most challenging of circumstances.

Inspirational leadership like that shown by Zelensky can, as we have seen in the followers of that leader, turn fear into determination, weakness into strength, confusion into steadfast commitment. We needed this example to show us what’s possible. I am grateful and in awe.

[1] From Inspirational Leadership, a copyrighted program of Barnes & Conti Associates, Inc.

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