InterActive Influence™ builds upon a foundation of research to help participants increase their impact within their organizations. During this two-day workshop, participants:

• learn how to differentiate between people’s stated positions and their underlying interests
• experience how “mindset” is the key to unearthing those interests
• learn how to conduct “influence conversations”
• develop strategies, plans and networks to affect their real-life issues.

Workshop Overiew:

The InterActive Mindset

InterActive Influence™ explores the mindset that is key to generating influential behavior. Rather than getting better at “pushing” their own points of view, participants learn to inquire into what’s really important to others. They explore the relationship between positions – what people say they want – and the underlying interests that are usually unspoken, often unrecognized, and almost always at play.


InterActive Listening

The InterActive mindset deepens the ability to listen. Our research has identified three specific areas that become the focus of InterActive Listening. To be influential, a listener must be empathetic, authentic and regard the other as an equal. This yields important exchanges of information, as well as a higher degree of trust and disclosure.


The Influence Conversation

The power of InterActive Listening transforms influence from a “Self-Other” process (“I will affect you”) to a mutual activity in which each party opens up to share underlying interests and really learn together. We call this the Influence Conversation.

Participants learn to use Chris Argyris’ Ladder of Inference as a strategic tool to prepare for and conduct conversations that meet common interests and lead to sustainable agreements with substantive buy-in.

Each participant then focuses on a real-life influence situation and conducts a practice Influence Conversation around that issue. This gives participants the opportunity to apply what they have learned and to receive feedback that will help them increase their impact when they return to work.


The Network of Alliances

Finally, participants examine the relationship between their ability to influence and their network of relationships. They discuss common misconceptions about and resistance to “networking,” and identify the talents and strengths they can offer to the people they know. They leave with a simple, strategic plan for strengthening their participation with others.


InterActive Influence™
(click here to download a pdf document)