Heath - Influence Effect: a Womans Guide to Winning at Work

Praise for The Influence Effect

I have long argued that business can no longer afford to exclude the strengths of half the human race: women. Leaders are slow to take us into that brave new world. But thanks to The Influence Effects intelligent approach, women can create their own path to power and start gaining the positions they want and need. I urge everyone to get a copy of this inspired and practical guide.

John Gerzema, CEO, Harris Insights & Analytics/The Harris Poll, New York Times bestselling author, social scientist, and speaker

Reading The Influence Effect is certain to remind a woman that power is a verb and that she is the boss of her destiny. Well done.

Paula W. Hinton, Partner, Winston & Strawn, LLP

Women need to gain influence. The Influence Effect provides simple and practical tools to empower women to gain access to the C-suite.

Greg D. Carmichael, President and CEO, Fifth Third Bank

The Influence Effect might just change your life. The book tackles the age-old problem of too few women in leadership positions, and it does this in an utterly fresh, compelling wayby asking women to practice The Big Five Strategies to pave their path to power. And as the real-world stories and case studies show, it works. I recommend this book to women everywhere who are ready to move forward faster.

Rich Karlgaard, Publisher, Forbes, bestselling author, award-winning entrepreneur, and speaker

The path to greatness is not a Machiavellian route of power; it is a trail of astute influence. And influence comes best from a confident, authentic spirit; a focused zeal to make a difference; and the wisdom of a set of strategies. The Influence Effect delivers all three. Written by four women who have successfully forged that challenging trail, this animated and thought-provoking book will give you a pragmatic map and crucial tools for your journey.

Chip R. Bell, author of Kaleidoscope

The Influence Effect tackles womens underrepresentation in leadership with cutting-edge research and expert insights. The result is a powerful guide with a clear message: women bring something very differentand neededto the table. Designed to help women leverage their unique strengths as leaders, The Influence Effect can help women everywhere break through barriers to advancement.

Alyse Nelson, President and CEO, Vital Voices Global Partnership

The Influence Effect shows women how to start leveling the playing field by accessing powerfaster, better, smarter. Dont wait to get yourself a copy. While youre at it, buy one for someone you know who may not fully recognize that women are our most underutilized resource for delivering our very best business outcomes.

Alden Mills, entrepreneur, Navy SEAL, and author of Be Unstoppable

Gender barriers wont ever go away, but if you follow the advice in The Influence Effect, they will no longer hold you back.

The Honorable Cari M. Dominguez, former Chair, US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission

Other books by Kathryn Heath, Jill Flynn, and Mary Davis Holt

Break Your Own Rules: How to Change the Patterns of Thinking

That Block Womens Paths to Power

A New Path to Power for Women Leaders

Kathryn Heath
Jill Flynn
Mary Davis Holt
Diana Faison

The Influence Effect

Copyright 2017 by Flynn Heath Holt LLC

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law. For permission requests, write to the publisher, addressed Attention: Permissions Coordinator, at the address below.

Berrett-Koehler Publishers, Inc.
1333 Broadway, Suite 1000
Oakland, CA 94612-1921
Tel: (510) 817-2277, Fax: (510) 817-2278
www.bkconnection.com

Ordering information for print editions

Quantity sales. Special discounts are available on quantity purchases by corporations, associations, and others. For details, contact the Special Sales Department at the Berrett-Koehler address above.

Individual sales. Berrett-Koehler publications are available through most bookstores. They can also be ordered directly from Berrett-Koehler: Tel: (800) 929-2929; Fax: (802) 864-7626; www.bkconnection.com

Orders for college textbook/course adoption use. Please contact Berrett-Koehler: Tel: (800) 929-2929; Fax: (802) 864-7626.

Orders by U.S. trade bookstores and wholesalers. Please contact Ingram Publisher Services, Tel: (800) 509-4887; Fax: (800) 838-1149; E-mail: for details about electronic ordering.

Berrett-Koehler and the BK logo are registered trademarks of Berrett-Koehler Publishers, Inc.

First Edition
Hardcover print edition ISBN 978-1-5230-8276-6
PDF e-book ISBN 978-1-5230-8277-3
IDPF e-book ISBN 978-1-5230-8278-0

2017-1

Set in Arno Pro by Westchester Publishing Services.

Cover design by Adrian Morgan

Interior design by Laurel Muller

To the generations of
amazing women leaders
who have and will change
our world for the better

This is a book that needed to be written, and its a book that needs to be read. Influence is not a nice-to-have in business; it is a nonnegotiable. Influence depends on having a seat at the table and entails having your voice shape decisions and outcomes. Not enough women are influencing today. Its true that too few of us sit at the table, especially in the C-suite. In order to get there, stay there, and make real contributions at every step, we women need to do some things differently.

We need to ensure that what we say gets heard. This sounds obvious, but it is not easy. Getting heard requires preparation and practice on our part. Men and women communicate differently. Women tend to use more words, speak more formally, and focus on process versus outcomes. There is nothing wrong with that, but because its not how men communicate, men often tune such speech out, which means that your input may not be appropriately considered.

At one point, I met with a male colleague to discuss how to have his team sell a technology product that my group developed. His first words, before Id said a thing? He asked, Why should we sell your product? I wanted to explain the client relationships it would help them build, the best-in-class product attributes that took years to develop, and the products superiority to anything our competitors have. Instead, I said, Because it will add $40 million to your revenue goal for this year. He heard that! I knew he was thinking primarily about how he and his team could be successful, so I spoke his language.

Disagreements cannot be taken personally. Sometimes we confuse influence with getting everyone to agree. In reality, influence is getting the right decision made even when people do not agree. We need to quit trying to please everyone. We must be able to make a decision and say, Here is why X person and Y person disagree with me, but this is what we need to do anyway. We need to quit relying solely on agreement and consensus and instead show we have a point of view and can stand by our decisions. One of my female colleagues is confident enough to say occasionally to her boss, Just because you disagree with me doesnt mean that I am wrong. We must become comfortable with disagreement.