May 2003

Your power to influence

by Dr. Dennis Nikitow

Do you ever feel you just can't get people to do things the way you want them done? After you've delegated authority you feel you've lost control over your work? Have you ever felt you've lost control so you become complacent and lost, beginning to tolerate situations rather than stepping up to change them?

If you have, you've lost your power to influence.

In most cases doctors or managers will begin to use their authority rather than their influence to get things accomplished. The difference is, the former leads to pushing harder, frustration, lack of accomplishment, a sense of burnout and complacency. The latter on the other hand, results in leveraging, more enthusiasm, excitement and confidence in making changes to solve problems and the unity of a team to accomplish desired outcomes.

The interesting difference is that influence is the power to make a response, behavior or result without force whereas authority is a delegation or a command to behave, act or think a certain way for a certain reason.

Your ability to lead and be successful is totally dependant on your ability to influence!

To enhance your ability to influence, it's important to accept two very important facts:

1. You are always leading. You can never not lead because leadership is the effect you have on people and events around you. Therefore, you need to become responsible for your habits and not merely actions. Actions can be isolated cases where habits are consistent actions we've ingrained into our lifestyle. Some are empowering, others are dis-empowering. Nevertheless, we take our points of view based on habit.

If you have a habit of looking for problems outside yourself you are slipping away from the power to influence because your point of view will become distorted. You will rely more on your authority to accomplish rather than your power to influence.

2. You always have 100% influence in every situation. To break out of your proverbial box and begin to accomplish without limits, get into the habit of always asking yourself the following question: "What did I do (or not do) to make this happen (or not happen)?" Teach this to your staff, your spouse, your kids, or anyone who's "stuck" in life. This question evokes responsibility and primes your mind to seek new empowering solutions and possibilities, leading to a new level of excitement and enthusiasm.

Remember, the act of omission can have more of an effect than even acts of commission. Failure to follow up on policy set in your office could easily lead to an impression the doctor has little responsibility and influence.

Understand, you can delegate your authority to others -- C.A.s, managers, and associates -- to be responsible for, but you can never be removed from your responsibility for what they do with the authority you allow them. It's always yours and you, as a doctor, are responsible for it. To sum it up, monitor what you delegate because you always have 100% influence.

On the other hand, leading by example as in the doctor consistently following office policies, asking for referrals, being enthusiastic, complimenting patients on consistency, influences the staff to do the same silently without effort.

The next step to maximizing your power to influence is to lead people to be open to change. Not just small time change but major change in attitude, thoughts, and habits. This involves a three point approach:

1. Acknowledge the past. For every problem you are trying to solve or habit or attitude you want to change, start your thoughts or phrase with "in the past" or "previously" or "up until now." This focuses your mind on how the future can be different. Your influence will be impacting for your future once you've taken responsibility for the part you've played in the past.

Remember, your practice is a result of the influence or lack thereof you've had in the past. Evaluate how you were the source of your problems, not someone else. What did you do (or not do) to make it happen (or not happen)? Look at how you can lead differently rather than becoming complacent saying, "that's just the way I am." Put demands on yourself to grow and change. You'll begin to tap into new potential.

2. Get outside your box. Step out of your usual character and develop a new way to act. Don't just do new actions within the same box. Ask your influencing question and remember you are 100% responsible and influential. Now define the new ways you need to act to influence others.

3. "Practiceality." Not practicality, but practice‑ability. This made up word means the full expression of your personal abilities "for the good of the practice." Always repeat these words and have your staff repeat them when you want to step out of your box.

If you examine the phenomenon of personality development, you'll see that we are innately limitless in our ability to experience and express emotions and feelings of love, anger, fear, and happiness. As we grow and develop we begin to make decisions that shape our behavior and personalities for our own good. One baby may scream to get picked up, another smiles. We develop attitudes of "that's who I am," "it's not my nature," etc. This thought process reinforces our narrow behavior.

By the time we are adults we express ourselves using far less than the full range of abilities we are born with. The fact is, in business situations we draw on these unused abilities "for the good of the practice." This is evidenced by the fact that we can act and react differently at work in temperament, mood, ability to confront, and personality for the good of the larger purpose than our own needs. It's the desire to be involved in family, team, or practice that helps us draw on those full abilities.

Therefore, by empowering our thoughts with "for the good of the practice," we enhance our commitment and ability to influence. In recognizing your power to influence, you will enhance your ability to lead and achieve more success.

(To learn more about Certainty Practice Products and Dr. Dennis Nikitow's upcoming seminar schedule, call 800/544‑3884. Outside the United States, 303/721‑6202.)