Overview : When was the last time you thought about how you influence others - how you change minds, shape opinions, move others to act? Ken Blanchard, author of The One Minute Manager said, "The key to leadership is influence, not authority." That's why it's important to have influencing skills as part of your professional portfolio. To be an effective leader, it is necessary to influence others to support and implement decisions that are crucial for your team, department, business unit or company's success. Even with a solid foundation of credibility and competence you, as a manager, may fall short if you don't understand the dynamics of power, politics and influence. Why should you attend: Leaders rely on influence to get things done. Whether it's getting approval for expenditures beyond your budget, or getting items onto the agenda for the next meeting, your ability to influence matters. If you don't have influence you will have difficulty leading others and impacting your organization. It is crucial for leaders and managers to understand the range of influence techniques they can use, know when and how to use them, build their power bases so that they have the capacity to be influential, and sharpen their skills so that they can influence people effectively.Areas Covered in the Session:What contributes to one's personal powerHow you can use specific sources of personal power to increase your influence with your boss, peers, staff and othersPolitics is not a bad word: Develop political savvy to influence other's decisionsInfluence strategies for creating a more engaged workforceHow to use your personal and political power more strategically and effectively