Authentic Influence Workplace Project
This project is your opportunity to put authentic influence into action. It is designed to help you intentionally apply the persuasion principles, emotional intelligence, and values in a real workplace scenario, while practicing courage over perfection and testing out learning and approaches.
Your Project Journey: You will choose and work on your own individual project. During Module 5, you will be assigned a small group of buddies from your cohort who will act as a sounding board and source of support, helping you brainstorm ideas, reflect on your approach, and identify your next steps.
Your workplace influence project starts here and continues through Module 5, with your completed project submitted before Module 6.
Note: Your answers are saved to your Coachability record as you go, so you can stop and pick it up again on any device.
Activity Structure
Pre-Module 5
Allow around 20 to 30 minutes for the pre-Module 5 section, in one sitting or across a few.
- You will reflect on your Values learning: which of your actual values do or could support you in leadership influence.
- You will then select a workplace project or create your own in “Step 2: Pick Your Project”.
- Once you have selected your project, you will begin to think about who you need to influence, their values, where your values overlap, and what could be in conflict.
During the Module 5 live session
- You will learn more about influencing skills and the persuasion principles.
- You will move on to the next section of completing the project by reviewing persuasion principles you would use, you will discuss your ideas in small groups.
Post Module 5
- You will put your plan into action, meet with your group, then finalize and submit your project before Module 6.
- The workplace project is an important practical element of your certification. Submitting all parts of your plan, and what you actually did, is required.
Please note: this is not about ensuring a perfect outcome yet testing out learning and approaches in the context of influence.
Reference: finding shared values
Use this alongside the Shared Values step above.
Values shape motivation and what people consider important. To influence effectively, consider the values that may be driving the other person. A message presented only through your own values, or based on untested assumptions about theirs, may not land as intended. When your message connects with what genuinely matters to them, it becomes more relevant and compelling.
Example
A marketing director needed buy-in from an engineering leader. Instead of focusing on marketing goals/creativity (their value), they framed the feature in terms of product quality and technical innovation (the engineering leader's values).
Case studies
Influence upward: the budget that kept getting deferred
The situation. A team lead needed mid-cycle headcount. Twice the request was deferred by a director who kept saying "let's see where we are next quarter."
Spotting the value. The lead noticed what the director consistently protected: predictability. Language giveaway: "what does this do to our numbers?"
Checking the why. Rather than assume the director valued cost above all, the lead asked: "What would need to be true for this to feel safe to approve?" The answer was about exposure, not money.
Using it. The case was reframed from growth to de-risking delivery: a phased hire with a review point. Approved.
Influence across: the peer who would not commit
The situation. A manager needed a peer in another region to support a shared initiative with no formal accountability between them.
Spotting the value. The peer spoke about their own team first and asked "who else is doing this?" Two values in view: loyalty to their team, and consensus.
Checking the why. The manager tested it: "What would make this a good deal for your team?" The peer named recognition for their people and a say in the timing.
Using it. The manager led with what the peer's team would be credited for, and gave them the timing decision.
Tips for spotting values
- Watch what they act on. Look at what they consistently do, decide and prioritize, not just what they say.
- Listen for language giveaways. The words people repeat often point to a value.
- Notice what they model, reward, resource, tolerate and challenge.
- Look at trade-offs. When something has to give, what do they protect?
- Check the why. Two people can make the same decision from very different values. Do not assume.
- Or simply ask. "What matters most to you about this?"