How Do You Become A 'Peer Influencer'

Getting people to do things they would not otherwise wish to do without use of authority, is called Influencing.

Hierarchical Leadership is bound to come with brass-tags of authority. Covertly or overtly, there is a power-play inherent in hierarchical relationships. An equal underplay of resistance to such a relationships is but a natural outcome.

The first traces of potential leadership gets perceived by a person's acceptability and his ability to influence his peer-colleagues to do things through his power of influence. Naturally, I am presuming that  he has no such tacit delegated power  or enjoys extra-constitutional authority or references by any  lineage to back-up his acceptability by his peers.

Every leader secretly nurtures this desire to be that ' Peer Influencer' in the team (with powers derived from some magic wand) as a consequence of which, he can align and drive behaviours without authority over his colleagues.

Albeit such a magic wand does not exist, there are ways and means thru which you can indeed become a 'Peer Influencer'. How do you go around becoming that ? What do you have to keep in mind ?? What do you have to do ???

These are a few things you could do to become an effective Peer Influencer :

👉 Impress and build your strong brand-reputation amongst peers ... They will let you influence them only if they are in awe of you. They should value your thoughts, opinions, knowledge and most above all - your behaviour and your values. To be a Peer- Influencer, you have to impress the others. They must look-up to you for your integrity and your strong sense of ethics and fairness. Unless your peers see you and your brand in that vogue, you will not meaningfully be able to influence them. In my experience, peer assessment of leadership is at times more stringent than Managerial assessment of leadership for peers get to experience first-hand ringside view of the style, behaviours, character and values drivers of colleagues.

👉 Invest time to know your peers well... He who does not really know the world of his peers, their problems, their strengths and their favourite currencies of transactions, will not be allowed in the inner-circle of the peers. And if you are not there, your ability to influence is marginalised. Unless you invest authentic and quality time to know the world of their perspectives and appreciate the favourite currencies that the colleagues you wish to Influence are driven by, your reach-out efforts will actually be glazed-out.

👉 Share your strengths and stand-by in their celebrations and commiserations... Your ability to influence others is a function of your having successfully permeated the hearts and minds of your peers. You should be generous in sharing your strengths to support your influencable peers when they are in trouble. Can't afford to be parsimonious in this. To be a part of them, you will have to be their witness both for celebrations and commiserations. Desire to be a peer influencer comes with robust investments to build a sustainable relationship much ahead of the time. Unfortunately, politicians tend to forget that and tend to come over to woo the electoral segments,  only when they wish for their casting of votes. Their convenient Alzheimer frequently fails them. Standing by in their celebrations is certainly good news but stretching - out and standing together  in commiserations and moments of private mourning strengthens the intensity and ability to influence.

👉 Convey upfront with clarity your purpose of journey and agenda... Most people in a team are weary about the agendas of other people. The purpose of exhibiting positive behaviour is more than frequently suspected and questioned as having some or the other hidden agendas. Corporates are filled with their shares of Don Quixotes'. They smell a rat even in a garden of roses ! There is 'no free lunch'. Therefore if in reality there is a purpose and an agenda, it is better to upfront clarify that than to let the forces of Devil determine and drum-up that agenda later in time and create a suspected motive and a political agenda around it.

👉 Link rewards of co-operation to fulfilling their aspirations... As you invest time in authentically knowing your peers, you will realise the Dreams and Desired Destinations of your peers. Their reward for co-operating with you should be linked to fulfilment of their aspirations and dreams. They need to be clear in their minds that continuance of the old pattern does not lead to their personal goal achievement. Build the tipping-points for your influence. This link needs to be drawn out and shown to them upfront.

👉 Never burn bridges... You cannot be a Peer Influencer overnight. It is a slow-cook recipe. You gain sometimes... and sometimes you fall. That goes on. Do not become so passionate and as a result so impatient that every time your efforts fail, you cut-off relationships in disgust forever. Don't burn bridges as a peer influencer for you never know when you would want to use the link ever again. At times you may need to use them as connecting links to someone else...after all, everyone is connected in this world to someone else through six degrees of separation !

👉 Step forward to help... When you genuinely step forward to help a peer in his time of need or in his area of deficiency, he becomes more vulnerable to be influenced by your circle of influence. Influencers are positive reservoirs of support to their peers in their Moments of Adversity. Always step forward and help out whenever your colleagues are in need. A week-end assignment for a colleague who had a family event to catch-up, certainly is something he would never forget, if you could substitute for him !! Of course, check with your wife before you volunteer !!!

👉 Step forward to guide... Peer Influencer voluntarily steps forward to peer coach if they see their peers err. At times solicited and at times even unsolicited. But considering that they have invested time in building robust relationships, even their unsolicited offerings will not be negatively viewed by their peers.. infact, it would be valued. Why your Balance-Sheet is not tallying despite all efforts, if a knowledgeable peer were to help out, certainly that would be recalled and valued.

👉 Step-up in defence... Whenever a peer is under critique an influencer steps-in to defend. Genuine and authentic like a knight in shinning arms. Not for protection for no good reason. Peers feel guarded during their moments of vulnerability . Once they experience a feeling of safety and protection, that peer is acceptable with open arms to suggest and influence.

👉 Invest in clarifying if you smell distrust There could be occasions when there can be an element of distrust. Circumstances at times,  positions facts precariously. Sometimes it emerges purely through self-doubts and insecurities. More so when the interpretational context becomes uncertain, complex and occasionally ambiguous. At the slightest hint of disbelief or a smell of distrust, a peer influencer steps in and clarifies. He does not waste time. He does not allow the disbelief/distrust to simmer and linger for long. Time makes distrust  bigger than what it originally was unless its growth is immediately stunted by data that suspends it or by facts that clarify it. Sincere apologies help if there were genuine errors that may have unintendedly led to that situation.

👉 Share rewards but don't necessarily demand shares in profits... Peer Influencers share their rewards freely. They are better off in the equation to win rewards. Hence the chances of others getting a flavour of rewards on their account is comparatively,  higher. They love the Influencer for giving them a flavour of victory. At the same time, a Peer Influencer is not greedy. He does not eye to share rewards of the others. He does not mind partaking and sharing in the bounties though he does not yearn to share other's rewards as part of his greed agenda.

Peer Influencers are de facto leaders. They yield more referential power than the de jure leaders ! Wise organisations therefore look out for this quality whilst selecting internal leaders for higher positions. COCA-COLA certainly did. The best organisational strategy would be to identify and convert the de facto Peer Influencer into a de jure leader....if he met other parameters.

Peer Influencers are like cheer-leaders and champions all rolled into one. This is a panacea - an all time cure for all corporate concerns.