Encyclopedia of Leadership

many presenters don’t allow people to voice their reservations. You can’t do anything

about what you don’t know. It’s better to hear reservations and have a chance to deal

with them, than to have your recommendation scuttled outside the room, when you

are not there to deal with the objections.

❻ Plan follow-through as necessary.Plan the next steps. Act quickly once you’ve begun the

influencing process. It’s rare to have all the decision makers and stakeholders in one

room. Contact the key decision makers who were not at your initial presentation. Ask

for their support. Listen to their concerns. Deputize as many people as possible to help

you get your recommendations supported and approved.

HOW TO USE THIS LEADERSHIP TOOL

“One person with a belief is equal to a force of ninety-nine who only have an interest.”

—John Stuart Mill

Often in organizations, great improvement ideas abound. Suppose an engineer wants to

improve operations, for example. In presenting the idea, however, the engineer will often over-

whelm management with analysis and technical detail, then become frustrated by lack of man-

agement support! The Selling Wheel can help shift the emphasis in such cases, pointing out

the need to spend less time reviewing data and analysis, and more time clarifying the business

need, outlining the benefits of the recommendations, and demonstrating to management how

the risks they most fear can be minimized. This helps management focus on the benefits of the

plan, tackle the risks, and connect the plan to the bottom line.

Use the worksheet provided to plan a persuasive presentation. All six steps are important,

but step 4 is critical (sell your best option). People buy benefits. Plan how to present the ben-

efits and deal with the reservations of each stakeholder group. [☛5.7 Stakeholder Groups]

RELATED LEADERSHIP TOOLS

5.1 Change Equation 5.7 Stakeholder Groups 9.6 Presentations

5.5 Change Window 5.9 Resistance 9.8 Selling Large Projects

FOR FURTHER ASSISTANCE

Hiebert, Murray, Powerful Professionals: Getting Your Expertise Used Inside Your Organization. Recursion Press, 1999.
Rackham, Neil. The Spin Selling Fieldbook: Practical Tools, Methods, Exercises, and Resources. McGraw-Hill, 1996.

SECTION 9 TOOLS FORLEADING ANDINFLUENCINGOTHERS 285

Senior Management Return on investment, fit with strategy Difficulty getting support throughout

the organization

Benefits this group Risks that will

Stakeholder group will respond to concern this group