Influencer

02To influence others, you need a clear goal and a way to track your progress

Let's dive into a key principle of influence, a two-part concept known as "focus and measure". This principle is all about setting a clear goal and keeping track of your progress towards it. First up, focus. This is all about having a goal that's specific, compelling, and easy to understand. Without a clear goal, your attempts to influence others might end up being a bit all over the place. For example, if you're a teacher wanting to boost your students' grades, a vague goal might be "I want my students to do better." But a focused goal would be something like "I want 80% of my students to score above 85% on the final exam." This goal is specific, measurable, and has a deadline, making it easier for others (in this case, your students) to understand and strive for. Next, we have measure. This is all about keeping an eye on how you're doing in relation to your goal. This means identifying signs that you're making progress and checking in on these regularly. For example, as a teacher, you might keep track of progress by giving weekly quizzes and keeping an eye on the scores. If the scores are going up, you're on the right path. If not, you might need to switch up your teaching methods. But remember, not all ways of measuring progress are equal. Some might not give you an accurate picture of how you're doing, or they might even encourage behavior that's not helpful. For example, if you're a manager wanting to boost your team's productivity, and you decide to measure progress by the number of hours worked, this might make your team work longer hours, but not necessarily more productively. A better way to measure might be the number of tasks completed or the quality of work produced. To bring this concept to life, let's look at a real-world example. Dr. Don Berwick, the former CEO of the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI), was worried about the high number of deaths caused by poor healthcare in America. He set a clear and compelling goal: to save 100,000 lives by June 14, 2006, at exactly 9 a.m. He then kept track of progress by counting the number of lives saved. His campaign was a success, not just because his goal was clear and compelling, but also because he had a reliable way of measuring progress. So, to wrap up, the first step to influencing others is to focus and measure. This means setting a clear and compelling goal, and keeping track of your progress towards that goal using reliable methods. By doing this, you can make sure your efforts to influence others are targeted and effective.

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