The Art of Influencing Up

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•Realize that your upper managers are just as "human" as you are. Don't say, "I am amazed that someone at this level…"

It is realistic to expect upper managers to be competent; it is unrealistic to expect them to be better than normal humans. Is there anything in the history of the human species indicating that when people achieve high levels of status, power, and money they become instantly wise and logical (or even sane)?

How many times have we thought: "I would assume someone at this level…" followed by "should know what is happening," "should be more logical," "wouldn't make that kind of mistake," or "would never engage in such inappropriate behavior"?

Even the best of leaders are human. We all make mistakes. When your managers make mistakes, focus more on helping them than on judging them.

•Make a positive difference. Don't just try to "win" or "be right."

We can easily become more focused on what others are doing wrong than on how we can make things better. An important guideline in influencing up is to always remember your goal—to make a positive difference for the organization.

Corporations are different from academic institutions. In a university the goal may be sharing ideas, not having an impact on the world. In faculty meetings, hours of acrimonious debate on obscure topics can be perfectly normal.

In a corporation, sharing ideas without having an impact is worse than useless. It is a waste of the stockholders' money and a distraction from serving customers.

When I was interviewed in the Harvard Business Review, I was asked: "What is the most common area for improvement for the leaders that you meet?" My answer was "winning too much."

Focus on making a difference. The more other people can "be right" or "win" with your idea, the more likely your idea is to be successfully executed.

In summary, think of the years that you have spent perfecting your craft. Think of all of the knowledge that you have accumulated. Think about how your knowledge can potentially benefit your organization.

How much energy have you invested in acquiring all of this knowledge? How much energy have you invested in learning to present this knowledge so that you can make a real difference? My hope is that by making a small investment in learning how to influence up, you can make a large, positive difference for the future of your organization—and the future of your career.

For greater detail see, "Effectively Influencing Up"in Leading Organizational Learning, Goldsmith, Morgan and Ogg eds., Jossey-Bass, 2004.

Marshall Goldsmith, who writes Marshall and Friends every week for BusinessWeek.com, can be reached at Marshall@MarshallGoldsmith.com. He provides his articles and videos online at MarshallGoldsmithLibrary.com.