Professional Development Tutorial - Influence in trying times

There's a Buddhist saying, as wise as a statement can be, participate with joy in the sorrows of the world. It's a leadership challenge for all of us, as alive today as ever. We can't solve all the world's problems, but we can choose how to show up for them. The executive influence choice, energizing people to create possibilities, starts with the imperfect world as it is. So how we influence needs to work in good times, bad times, anytime. Here are three ways to do just that. First, always give people a reason to care, a reason to believe, and to try and try again. Care, this should be better. Believe, this can be better. And try, we make it better and keep making it better. I coached a phenomenal leader who runs a hospital in Southern California. Back at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, the entire staff already overwhelmed for weeks. He had an inspired idea because even when things were at their worst, still some of their COVID patients were recovering. So every time one recovered and was discharged, this leader played over the loudspeaker so every patient and employee could hear just for a few seconds while they continued their stressful work. The theme song from the movie Rocky, the movie about a boxer who didn't have a chance but still made it. What a walkout song. And so for a few seconds, every single person in the hospital was reminded they were a part of something phenomenal. Facing intense distress, they created possibility and inspired more caring, more believing, more trying. Next, always earn an F+. It's your emotional grade. F is for feeling and the plus is for better. Gary Bernesen, CEO of Corn Fairy, the global executive search firm, says a board member gave him transformational advice early in his tenure. He said, Gary, never forget that your job is to make people feel better after every conversation than they did before. Executive influence is energizing people to create possibilities, not de-energizing them. The leader with the Rocky song idea, that's what he does. You can too. Be someone others want to be around no matter how tough things get. Finally, tell their adventure story. Executive influencers remind us we're not just at the mercy of chance and circumstance. Our choices make a difference just like they do for heroes in a story. Make your people the heroes in a story. They are. That hospital leader made sure people knew they weren't just absorbing punishment. They were living a real life hero story. Rocky says it himself in his movie. Nobody hits as hard as life. It's about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward. Remind us how much it matters to go from where we are to where we want to be. Remind us how much we matter. It's how every one of us can participate with joy in the sorrows of the world and the joys of the world too.