The Evolution of "Influence" in Business // Plus: Final Registration closes soon for the Leadership Intensive

Sep 25, 2020

There are only a few days left to sign yourself (or a fast-rising leader you want to support) up for my October 12–23 virtual Leadership Intensive, where we’re working on habits and principles for Trust-Building, Productive Confrontation, Intellectual Humility, and other skills our business world needs right now.

So if you're interested in this live course and workshop series, I encourage you to take another look at the Program Details and reserve your seat while there are a few left!

For those of you who are just here for the articles about innovation and human behavior, here's one that may change your perspective:

Remember when we used to fly across the country for a meeting?

Pack a suitcase, wake up at 5am, drive to the airport, take off your shoes and walk through a metal detector, sit in front of Auntie Annie’s for 90 minutes, stand around while people figure out if they’re in Group 2, scan your ticket, walk down the jetbridge, search for an open overhead spot, hoist your carryon, squeeze into a 17-inch seat, stare at a tiny screen with a weird selection of movies for 6 hours, refrain from unbuckling your seatbelt til you get to the gate, stand in the aisle while people try to remember where their luggage is, exit the airport, wait 20 minutes for a Lyft, check into a hotel, stress out that you forgot cash to tip the bellhop, order overpriced room service, get a ride in the morning to an office building, and then HAVE A ONE HOUR MEETING?

I remember that routine, too.

The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed a lot of dysfunction in business. Leadership habits that don’t work. Communication that misses the mark. Best practices that backfire the second you have to work from home. But the 20-step hullabaloo of flying from Philly to Phoenix for a face-to-face conversation is one of the most obvious inefficiencies that 2020 has stripped naked for all to see.

This week, I wrote in Forbes about how our understanding of what makes for Influence is changing—and how our quarantine-era routines have helped show us what actually makes people influential. Check it out—and if you like it, please share it along!