Using Influence Skills in Career Development

With today’s economy, companies are working harder to accomplish more with the resources

that they have. With fewer jobs available and more demanding roles to be filled, employees are

being challenged to develop skills and apply their capabilities to the fullest extent to make

themselves valuable to the company and to achieve a level of satisfaction that will encourage

retention. In order to develop their skills at influencing employees to work towards a future goal,

managers may benefit from taking a leadership development program from Vengel Consulting

Group to learn how influence can help encourage employees make a team effort towards the

same goal.

A valuable lesson in career development is that each member of the organization can benefit

from having a clear understanding of what their contribution to the company is. Knowing your

value will empower you to use the projects you work on today to build skills that will be

beneficial down the road. Having the skills to influence others will make you even more

effective at achieving your goals for the future. But, before you can develop a career plan for the

future, you must first gain an understanding of yourself and your options.

The First Step in Influence Skills Training

Understanding yourself is the first step in career development. It allows you to develop a better

understanding of what you are capable of, so that you can demonstrate your potential to others. It

also shows your potential for future learning. This step begins with the influence behavior of

assertiveness. Ask yourself what key skills you have used in the past and the present, and

determine how you can leverage them now.

Understanding Your Options

To become successful, you need to be able to leverage the constant changes that take place

within the organization in order to achieve your personal goals. Instead of simply trying to do a

good job at work, you need to develop multiple career goals that focus on what you expect to

happen in the future, so that you will be prepared for changes that take place. Taking deliberate

action will allow you to create opportunities.

Understanding Your Next Steps

Once your career goals have been determined, you are ready to take the next step and develop a

career development plan. A successful plan will be written and measurable, and will include a

specific timeframe for completion. Once you have outlined your career plan, speak with your

boss or another mentor within the organization. Feedback and support is an essential part of

achieving your goals.

The Role of Influence

After your career development plan is complete, you can put it into action by using your

influencing skills. You can do this by:

1. Asserting Yourself. State objectives clearly and directly, explaining in detail how your

objective will be achieved.

2. Suggest solutions that are relevant to their concerns that naturally occur as a result of being

presented with a new idea.

3. Create a vision of the positive results that will occur if the person agrees with your proposal.

Including influence strategies in your career development plan will provide you with a powerful

tool that will assist in your career advancement. Regardless of where you are in your career, this

strategy can help you reach your goals.

Company Bio

Vengel Consulting (http://www.vengelconsulting.com) has become the “vendor of choice” due

to their full range of organizational learning solutions for companies. They offer a customer-

focused approach with a specialty in developing a “learning climate” in organizations. Their

talent development curriculums are taught through seminars, webinars, and workshops.