Growing Your Circle of Influence

How can you leave a lasting impression on senior leaders when you lack access to them? It’s an issue that so many people have raised and in probing more, I often find out that they’ve defined access as having X number of hours directly with senior management. 

Think about it: if you are fortunate enough to have direct face time with a C-suite for a few minutes, what life-changing, lasting impression can you really make in this short time? Why are you setting yourself up to bank ONLY on these few minutes to define who you are?

Which is why I think this is such a myopic view. And even more so if you work for MNCs, or organisations that tend to be politically gridlocked. And reporting lines aren’t necessarily linear. 

So, what matters more is building your network. Your circle of peers, immediate colleagues, direct bosses and subordinates and what they think of you. How many of them respect and like you enough to be willing to educate senior management on your merits when the need arises? Remember: the senior leaders you’re trying so hard to reach aren’t working in isolation, they’re also part of this networked organisation. You’ll need your cheerleaders in good times, for instance, at performance evaluations, to show higher management why they should invest in you and in bad times.

If, even despite your best efforts, you’ve made a bad impression on a C-suite the first thing to do is to accept that this is a reality that happens to everyone. Myself included. There will always, and I really mean always, be a few senior executives you’re going to rub the wrong way. You’re not doing yourself, or anyone, a favour trying to please everyone.

The next thing to do is to review what went wrong. For instance, if you took a stance that opposes what a senior leader believes, do they now have a bad impression of you because of the stance you took? Or how you delivered it?

If it’s the former, and you’re dealing with a senior leader who cannot hear a ‘no’ from you, the problem is not with you. If you keep working for someone who only wants to hear ‘yes’ from you, you’re selling yourself short.

If it’s the latter, and you presented your stance in an arguably abrasive manner, perhaps driven by emotions because it’s something you feel so strongly for, then revise this. If you get another opportunity to present this view, don’t start from a point believing that you’re right. Show humility and back your views with data. Give the C-suite time to see the merits of your stance.

Then, ask yourself if this is a connection you actually want to recover and if the answer is yes, keep reaching out to the C-suite consistently without bending over backwards. Using the earlier example where you took an opposing stance, being consistent would mean standing your ground on taking this stance with other colleagues, on other projects. This makes it clear to the senior leader that the fall out wasn’t an attempt on your part to single them out.

A strong supporter ecosystem helps to complement your efforts as well. You aren’t alone in demonstrating your strengths. If your supporters are in similar circles as the C-suite, they can help to reinforce what kind of person you really are to help the C-suite come around. It’s a great way, I’ve found, to recover lost relationships.

Develop Executive Presence

The secret sauce, and a life skill I believe that people don’t pay enough attention to, is developing executive presence. Your attitudes and behaviours, how you react to bad situations and stress. Your ability to inspire confidence in the people around you. Something that isn’t just a front for how you present yourself to senior management. But also consistent with how you manage your subordinates downline and with your peers as well.

If you’re not sure where to start, look around the organisation. Is there someone you respect and seek to emulate? If so, shadow that person, get them to mentor you. It will truly be a critical and invaluable experience.

Here are five tips to help develop your executive presence:

• Learn to manage your emotional reactions; nothing inspires confidence more than a calm and collected demeanor.
• Be known for something. Own that subject. Command respect for what you bring to the table.
• Learn to hold critical conversations that address – not skirt – real issues – but do so in a way that creates a “win-win” outcome.
• Always focus on solutions and what to do next. You don’t get paid or promoted to identify problems!
• Share your expertise, build your network!

Invest Time

This is one of the best ways to generate likability and build your circle of cheerleaders. And it really doesn’t take much. Maybe half an hour a day, or an hour every week. You could volunteer to help your colleague with something. Or it could be as simple as setting some time aside to check in with your colleague. Not something work related, but a simple ‘how are things?’ With everyone busier than ever and dealing with new stressors that come with working from home during the pandemic, this simple question could offer them a much needed outlet. You might “lose” an hour, but you’ll be gaining goodwill. And if you really want to break it down, work out your return on time investment. You’ll win.

Solve Their Problems

If you’re able to solve a problem beyond your immediate area of work, it builds more goodwill with your circle of influence. It also sends a signal that you’re someone who collaborates well with others and can be trusted to take on a certain level of responsibility. This then helps you build abilities to solve problems and make an impact with a C-suite in time. To do so, I suggest using the framework below to first differentiate the problems employees face at different levels.

a. Structured problems, known solutions

These are problems that most junior level employees work to solve. Let’s say you work in manufacturing and some material has been ordered incorrectly. This is a known problem. A problem that has happened before and is likely to happen again. And the solution is clear: replace the incorrect order with the right one. The goal here is often efficiency and optimisation.

b. Unstructured problems, unknown solutions

These are what C-suites deal with daily: problems that haven’t been defined and are scenario based. For example, the problem they may be working on could be that the business isn’t growing. But this isn’t the root. What they then need to solve first is finding the cause. This is the complete opposite of what junior level employees usually address.

c. Structured problem, unknown solutions

Take an existing, known problem to management that doesn’t have a definite solution and create one. It’s likely that there isn’t something that can be bought or copied easily, or it wouldn’t be a problem. Which is great, because you now have the opportunity to create a solution. It’s one of the best ways for you to shine and stand out.

d. Unstructured problem, known solutions

This is a little trickier as what the problem isn’t actually as clear as, say, cracks in your product or a bug in your code. But it exists. You can help your circle of influence by adapting best practices in other industries and learning from others to help address your organisation’s problem.

Your goal is to build abilities and innovate within your circle of influence to be able to solve problems raised in (b), which are problems that members of the C-suite grapple with daily. This is where you’ll improve your impact within the organisation. But, getting from (a) to (b) isn’t possible.

The real path of getting to a C-suite is really (a) to (c) to (d) to (b), where you expand your circle of influence as you solve more problems and gain your colleagues’ respect in time.

1 Reach Out to Someone With Executive Presence

Think of someone in your organisation who’s respected by their subordinates, valued by their bosses and demonstrate values you admire and respect. Have an image? Reach out to them. Start building opportunities to be mentored by them.

2 Set Aside An Hour For Coffee Each Week

Block your calendar now. Take someone new to coffee or set up a Zoom call for a short chat each week.

3 Identify An Existing Problem You Can Solve

Something beyond your immediate scope of work that’s been bugging senior management. Once you know the problem, create a solution.