Understanding How Teams Influence

In this episode, we discuss the Influencing domain as a way to help us better understand team culture. This discussion is part three of a multi-part series about dominant domains and how they show up on teams.

The Influencing Domain on Teams

People with influence create a sense of belonging and purpose. They have a way of talking about and catalyzing movement. In general, people love people who are influencers. When we detect the Influencing domain as the dominant domain on a team, we notice if a team reaches a broader audience or if they find ways to sell their team’s idea inside or outside of an organization.

Some of the teams we work with are very conscious of their influence and they know how to steward it. But others are not, so they don’t quite know what to do with their influence and its capacity. Sometimes a high frequency of influencing themes have a low capacity for influence because of their environment and their capacity for change. The opposite is also true. One of the unique things that the Influencing themes bring with them is that they are often highly connected. They’re connected to the right people and to the right resources because they know how to leverage their influence that oftentimes involves other people’s opportunities and resources.  

How We Engage a Team with the Influencing Domain

The first thing we do when we work with a team is pay attention. There is almost an emotional charge or energy in a team dominant in the Influencing domain. We pay attention at a level that is more heightened than any other of the dominant domains. Influencing Strengths are often misunderstood, which means team cultures dominant in the Influencing domain might also be misunderstood. So we want to be really aware of what it is that is happening within that group. We ask questions such as:

• How conscious are they of their influence?
• What capacity do they have for influence?
• What connections do they have?

One of the things that we’re working with on a team is the signs of maturity. How are you helping each other grow and develop your influence so that it is the most generative expression of an influencing culture? Oftentimes influencers do not press pause long enough to consider how they really are influencing others and how that’s been developed. 

Bias, Boundaries, and Blind Spots

When working with teams that have a high influencing culture, remember there is a strong bias on what influence actually looks like or what it feels like. Boundaries are also important because sometimes teams that have an influenced-based culture are not quite sure where the boundaries should be. Sometimes this is like channeling energy in one specific direction. Healthy boundaries are very helpful in understanding how influence can be harnessed. Additionally, within a strong Influencing culture there tend to be blind spots on slow, developmental, incremental growth. 

Understanding How You Influence

We believe that there is a way that we can strategically engage a team culture that is highly influential. We believe that everyone is a person of influence, no matter how you influence or what that looks like. Everyone is a person of influence, therefore everyone has the potential for leadership.

If you have questions about this episode, about the Influencing domain, or if you just want to send us an email and bounce some ideas off of us, you can send an email to Amy at connect@leadershipvisionconsulting.com. We’d love to hear from you!