“In times of change, great leaders look in the mirror, not out the window” – Peter Fuda (international authority on business and leadership transformation)

With most people about to go on Christmas holidays, I thought I would seize the opportunity to write a post – my last for this year – around a Christmas theme.

Every year around this time, my partner Desley and I work our way through a large collection of Christmas movies. One of them is Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol“.

It’s a great story and for me it works on two levels. One is around it’s entertainment value and the other is the important message it sends to everyone in a management position.

Now for more on the latter.

For those who don’t know what the story is about, or needs a refresher, click here.

It’s very clear from Dickens’s narrative that Ebenezer Scrooge’s was not only troubled by what he saw but was also emotionally disturbed by what others had to say about him. I’ve summarised below what I believe were the key issues which persuaded Scrooge to not only to reflect upon his life as it was but also on the repercussions that his current behaviour could have on future events. And it was also made clear later in the story that it was the effect that these reflections had on Scrooge which ultimately drove him to undergo a permanent attitudinal transformation.

1. Scrooge realised that if he hadn’t been so obsessed with money, he might have led a happy life with Belle (the person to whom he was engaged to be married). 

2. On Christmas day, Scrooge hears Bob Cratich give “a toast to Mr Scrooge.  The founder of (their) feast.”  But he reels when Mrs Cratich responds with, “How can anyone drink the health of such an odious, stingy, hard and unfeeling man as Mr Scrooge.” 

3. Scrooge is taken back when Fred and his family make jokes about how disagreeable he is. 

4. Scrooge knew he must change after witnessing his own death as well as hearing the negative comments expressed by others upon learning about his demise.

Fortunately self-reflection is not always “bad news” as was the case with Mr Scrooge.  In fact, most times we will find more things that we do really well than what we could do better.  However as much as it’s important to gain insight into each of these matters, it’s even more important to know how far our current situation is away from our ideal.  Because knowing that there is a gap between where we are now and where we would like to be as well as being aware of the size of that gap, is what often drives us to narrowing that difference.  In other words, we should really view this divergence as an opportunity for improvement rather than as a sign of failure.

However self-reflection is just one of a number of ways that we can get to know more about ourselves.   In fact, a concept known as the Johari Window indicates that we need to look into four different areas of our life if we are to totally understand our true self; those areas being:

1. Known self – things we know about ourselves that others also know
2. Hidden self – things we know about ourselves that others don’t know
3. Blind self – things others know about us that we don’t know
4. Unknown self – things that neither we or others know about us.

The message here is that if we want to obtain a complete picture of our strengths and weaknesses, self reflection alone won’t do the trick.  That is to say, we also need to take into account other areas especially that of our “blind self” i.e. those things that others know about us that we don’t know.  And this is what Scrooge did.  Not only did he learn more about himself through self-reflection but he also took on board what other people had to say about him. 

“It’s one thing to act without knowing but another thing to know but still act in the same way” – Costa Georgiadis, landscape architect and TV presenter (The Courier Mail 28 June 2012)

“Knowing that you don’t know is the most essential step to knowing.” – by the Claire Keen character in the movie: “Synecdoche New   York”

Take Home Message: we shouldn’t have to be visited by ghosts of Christmas past, present and future to be influenced to reflect on how well we are performing as a leader.

About Tim Wilke

Specialist in current leadership thinking and combines this with the latest neuroscientific research on what makes a successful leader.

Author of the # 1 Best Selling book in Business Mentoring & Coaching (free in Kindle Store), “Look Inside: Discovering the secret to leadership success“. Click here to buy a copy.

Author of the e-book, “100 Things you should know about Leadership and Employee Engagement“. Click here to download a free copy.

The post Achieve greater self-awareness appeared first on Leading by Influence.

High energy is one of the keys to leadership success

I’m sure you’ve all heard it. You need to work long and hard if you want to succeed, be it at leadership or anything else for that matter.

But is that really true?

Well according to the pop psychologists and the great motivators of our time, it is. You know the deal. No pain, no gain and all that.

But science doesn’t agree, particularly with regards to the “long” bit. Let me explain.

Our mental energy levels naturally arise and fall throughout the day, according to what psychologist Peretz Lavie calls the “ultradian rhythms“. A graphic representation of which is shown below.

You can deal with this situation in one of two ways.

1. You can stick with the long-held belief that the only way to truly succeed is to work 8 or more hours straight without taking a single break each and every day. Which means ignoring your ultradian rhythms all together.

2. You can choose to “work smarter” by aligning your periods of work and rest with your body’s natural rhythm.  It’s an approach based on the premise that the best way of getting your brain to perform optimally is not to push it to operate at maximum intensity for long periods of time without allowing some downtime to replenish itself.

In other words, instead of forcing yourself to work at a high level of mental energy for a full 8 hour stretch, funnel your daily efforts into four 90 minute-windows of high intensity activity, interspersed equally with 30 minute rest periods.

As counterintuitive as this may sound, having short breaks between periods where you’re completely immersed in work, results in close to 20% more productivity (Source: a study conduced by the Federal Aviation Administration).  But as much as this is now a proven fact, option 2 is still a new way of thinking.  Which means that learning to function in this particular manner won’t be easy during the initial stages of putting it into practice.   But you will master it in time if you commit to following the instructions as set down below.

Step 1.

Determine at which point of the daily energy cycle you are at by working hard until you feel drowsy or your mind starts to wander from the task at hand.

When this happens, take it as a sign of being in one of the troughs in your natural energy cycle (see diagram above).  Which means that you now have the required knowledge to accurately sync your intense periods of activity and times of rest with your personal daily rhythm.

Step 2.  

At this point, set a timer for 30 minutes.  During this time, you can do any of the following:

• Make phone calls.
• Respond to emails and texts.
• Go for a walk.
• Have a snack.
• Take a powernap.

But make sure you avoid doing anything that taxes your cognitive abilities in any way.  In other words, you have to use this time to rest your brain otherwise you won’t gain the productivity that comes with the “funnel” approach.

Step 3.

Once you’ve had a 30 minute break, set the timer for 90 minutes.  Now return to the tasks you were doing in Step 1.  Or if you completed them during the first work period, begin with the next task on your list.  But whatever you choose to do, make sure you are 100% focussed for that entire time.

Step 4.

After the 90 minutes are up, set yourself another 30 minute block of rest time.   And keep on doing this alternating process for the rest of the day.

Step 5.

Continue to apply this “funnel” approach of 90 minute work sessions followed by 30 minute brain recovery intervals on a daily basis until it becomes your normal way of doing work.

Now if you want to learn more about the science behind this approach and how best to put it into practice, watch the following YouTube videos.

The Science of Productivity

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lHfjvYzr-3g 

Tony Schwartz: Working in 90 Minute Increments

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W5Nf8jbDtLU

About Tim Wilke

Specialist in current leadership thinking and combines this with the latest neuroscientific research on what makes a successful leader.

Author of the # 1 Best Selling book in Business Mentoring & Coaching (free in Kindle Store), “Look Inside: Discovering the secret to leadership success“. Click here to buy a copy.

Author of the e-book, “100 Things you should know about Leadership and Employee Engagement“. Click here to download a free copy.

The post Great new discovery helps increase your productivity appeared first on Leading by Influence.

Our brains are hard-wired to help us survive; a trait inherited from our earliest ancestors. Which means that we are driven to do whatever it takes to prevent anything which could cause us harm.

And one of those things is change.

Change in whatever form, requires a great deal of mental energy and as such is viewed as something which is threatening. So instead of meekly giving into it, we tend to fight against it with every fibre of our being. Or to use a quote by A.J. Cronin.

“A change imposed is a change opposed”

Which means that if you want to effectively implement change, you need to lessen, as much as possible, the energy that people use in resisting it. And you can largely do this by involving them in every step of the process from start to finish. To learn more, click here.

About Tim Wilke

Specialist in current leadership thinking and combines this with the latest neuroscientific research on what makes a successful leader.

Author of the # 1 Best Selling book in Business Mentoring & Coaching (free in Kindle Store), “Look Inside: Discovering the secret to leadership success“. Click here to buy a copy.

Author of the e-book, “100 Things you should know about Leadership and Employee Engagement“. Click here to download a free copy.

The post Humans are hard-wired for survival, which works against wanting to change appeared first on Leading by Influence.

Nose In, Fingers Out (NIFO)

NIFO is recommended advice given to those on company boards. And it’s something which business managers and leaders should also heed.

Putting you fingers in – or to be more specific, being hands on – is an action that’s generally not required except in an emergency or possibly when a complex situation arises. You may think you’re be helpful by doing so but what you are really doing is undermining and devaluing the worth of your employees.

About Tim Wilke

Specialist in current leadership thinking and combines this with the latest neuroscientific research on what makes a successful leader.

Author of the # 1 Best Selling book in Business Mentoring & Coaching (free in Kindle Store), “Look Inside: Discovering the secret to leadership success“. Click here to buy a copy.

Author of the e-book, “100 Things you should know about Leadership and Employee Engagement“. Click here to download a free copy.

The post A brief message for all leaders – Look but don’t touch appeared first on Leading by Influence.

Ever heard of the Hawthorne Experiments?

I ask because it’s more than 80 years since those Experiments, conducted by Elton Mayo and Fritz Roethlisberger, reported the findings listed below.

1. Employees will perform better when they are involved in making decisions that effect them.

2. The social and psychological needs of workers must be met if they are to be highly productive and engaged at work.

3. Employees are largely motivated by social factors such as

• being treated with respect and dignity;
• having a manager who actually cares about them and shows an interest in their work;
• being part of a team.

4. Levels of pay and monetary incentives are less important in improving employee productivity than the social factors listed above.

So it’s surprising and somewhat disappointing then that there are a considerable number of managers even to this very day who are still trying to work out what it takes to get employees to give of their best.  You be the judge but maybe they’ve,

• never heard of these Experiments;
• remain convinced that a “control and command” style of management is the best way to go, despite a great deal of evidence to the contrary or;
• have a bad case of confirmation bias.  This being a condition whereby people only listen to information that is in agreement with their existing beliefs and overlook or ignore that which does not.

I’m perplexed, so please tell me what you think.

About Tim Wilke

Specialist in current leadership thinking and combines this with the latest neuroscientific research on what makes a successful leader.

Author of the # 1 Best Selling book in Business Mentoring & Coaching (free in Kindle Store), “Look Inside: Discovering the secret to leadership success“. Click here to buy a copy.

Author of the e-book, “100 Things you should know about Leadership and Employee Engagement“. Click here to download a free copy.

The post Why are managers still trying to work out what motivates employees to give of their best? appeared first on Leading by Influence.

It was about a politician who was accused of doing something illegal.  Shock and horror I know but that aside, which one of the following responses do you think that person gave one month after the alleged wrongdoing became public.

1. I decided to change my ways.
2. I deny doing anything wrong.
3. I have a valid reason for doing what I did and I will continue to argue the point.

Well you’re far from the mark if you said 1 or 2 because, according to Argumentative Theory, the default option for most humans is number 3.  If you don’t believe me, just read these two articles

“Why do humans reason? Arguments for an argumentative theory” by Mercier and Sperber, Journal of Behavioral and Brain Science (2011) 

“The argumentative ape: Why we’re wired to persuade“, New Scientist, May 2012

So as long as humans continue to act in such a manner, they would rather justify or argue why they do what they do than change their ways or admit that they are wrong in doing it.

Therefore what hope does any business have of ever becoming really successful when it’s leaders don’t take on the challenge of always looking for the means to better themselves? I’m listening.

The post The one thing that every leader should know about appeared first on Leading by Influence.

To become a better leader requires changing the way you behave

In a previous post, I made the following statement.

To become a better leader requires changing the way you behave

I also said that there were basically 3 things which could be holding you back from making such a change. Those being these.

1. Believing that you are “Better than Average“, so you figure there’s no need to change.
2. You have a bad case of “Confirmation Bias“, which means your mind isn’t open to anything new.
3. You are a “Creature of Habit” like every other human.

So it begs the question then, how do you actually go about making behavioural change happen? Everyone knows how difficult it is to achieve. And on most occasions, you probably find yourself going back to your old ways.

How do you overcome these particular challenges? 

According to the Lazarus and Folkman’s Cognitive Appraisal Theory, you will only change your existing behaviour when the following sequence of events takes place.

1. You are confronted with a potential stressor situation such as being,

• demoted;
• given the results of a 360^o survey, which shows that you aren’t performing to the standard required;
• stripped of your executive privileges and/or benefits;
• put into a position of no longer having job security.
• given a first warning by your employer, who operates via the policy of “two strikes and you are out“.

2. You perceive this stressor situation as being a threat to your,

• psychological wellbeing;
• professional status and/or reputation;
• personal lifestyle.

3. Your perception is one of an inability to cope with that threat.

All of which means that you are unlikely to change your behaviour when one or both of these actions occur.

1. You don’t perceive the stressor situation as being a threat.

2. You consider yourself as having the ability to cope with the threat either by

• fighting against it.

or

• taking flight.

How do you put this into practice?

On a practical level, this involves using a 7-step behavioural change process with the acronym of R.E.S.P.E.C.T. Now considering that this process is discussed in great detail in my book, “Look Inside: Discovering the secret to leadership success“, I will only cover it in brief here.

1. R – Reflect on what your colleagues and staff say about your behaviour as a leader.

The primary purpose of this step is to prove that you aren’t in fact a “Better than Average” leader as you may think. If that’s the case with you – as it is for around 70% of today’s business managers – it will mostly cause you to go into a state of cognitive dissonance as explained in Lazarus and Folkman’s Theory above . Which will hopefully lead you to doing something about it rather than “fighting” against it or taking “flight”. However if you adopt either of the latter two approaches, it’s almost assured that you will do little about addressing your current behavioural short-comings. Again as per the Cognitive Appraisal Theory.

2. E – Empty your mind of the biases which are holding you back from taking on any new ideas or concepts around leadership.

This you can do by taking on a mentor as well as finding out as much as you can about what it really takes to be a good leader.

3. S – engage in the practice of Suggestive Programming.

This is what my book, “Look Inside” has to say about it.

“Suggestive programming, as the name says, re-programs your mind to think largely in terms of what traits and behaviours a good leader has. On a practical level, it involves reading a document which spells out these particular traits just before going to sleep each night. (This being) a time when your subconscious is most susceptible to new ideas. And as many successful people would attest, planting suggestions in your mind, actually starts to make them happen.”

4. P – mentally Prepare yourself to behave as a good leader does.

You do this by using a technique known as visualisation. This involves forming  images in your mind of you actually behaving like that of a good leader before you do it for real. Golfers, basketball players and gymnasts do this almost every time before they take a shot or act. Just watch this to learn more.

5. E – Enact the various behavioural traits for real.

These are the specific traits or behaviours which emotionally connect with people, such as

• Being honest and open.
• Showing  you are trustworthy.
• Giving of your time to help people.
• Showing respect towards others.

6. C – passionately Commit to behaving as a good leader does.

The importance of this step is that commitment and passion are the primary drivers for anyone who wants to be a success.

7. T – put in the necessary Time and effort until all behaviours, required to be a good leader, become second nature. 

This step is about laying down new neural pathway until all the “new” behaviours become habitual. According to Dr Trisha Stratford, this takes about six to eight weeks, or four weeks if you do it every day.”

So the message here is clear. Time, and lots of it, is largely the only thing that will triumph over our age-old enemy of being a “creature of habit”.

About Tim Wilke

A specialist in current leadership thinking and combines this with the latest neuroscientific research on what makes a successful leader.

Author of the book, “Look Inside: Discovering the secret to leadership success“, which can be downloaded for FREE from the Kindle store until the 5^th December 2015 by clicking here.

Author of the e-book, “100 Things you should know about Leadership and Employee Engagement“. Click here to download a FREE copy.

The post How to change your behaviour so as to become a better leader appeared first on Leading by Influence.

Improving your technical competencies usually involves some sort of skills training.  Whereas becoming a better leader often means changing your behaviour.  And of course, you know how difficult the latter is to achieve.  However there is good news.  There are techniques such as affirmation and visualisation which can help you do this.  But the bad news is that many people can’t find any logical reason for why they should even change in the first place.  There are basically three reasons for this.

1. The first one being something known as the “Better than Average Effect”; excellent examples of which appear in a study of “Helping successful people get even better” by Marshall Goldsmith (Business Strategy Review – London Business School, spring 2003).  In it, he talks about “as we become more successful, it seems harder to change” i.e. “when things are going well we often feel no reason to change”.   Goldsmith also says that “one of the greatest mistakes of successful people is the assumption, “I am successful.  I behave this way. Therefore, I must be successful because I behave this way!”

2. The second reason relates to a concept known as “Confirmation Bias”.  This is the tendency for people to favour information which confirms their beliefs and to ignore information which challenges those beliefs.  Often this bias relates to emotionally charged issues especially those relating to politics and how people behave.  Bottom line?  Most people tend to see the world through a selective filter; only letting in information which confirms what they already believe and disregarding opinions which go against those beliefs.   Which means that the truth doesn’t always enter into the equation.  Instead it’s simply a case of people only accepting evidence which is consistent with their own point of view and ignoring the rest.  Benjamin Franklin said it best.

“A man convinced against his will is of the same opinion still”

3. The third and final reason is that people are simply “creatures of habit”.  This means that they prefer for things to remain the same and therefore tend to stick with the way they currently behave.  It makes sense from an evolutionary point of view because it saves time and mental energy.  And it’s for this reason that people’s brains are hard-wired in that way. However due to the brain’s plasticity, you can re-wire it.  And by doing so, you can take on new behaviours; thus breaking away from your old ones.  It’s not difficult to do but it does require repeating a new behaviour over and over again until it becomes permanently wired into your brain.

Changing your behaviour requires a change in mindset

So it is possible to change your behaviour but you must first make a commitment to it happening and then follow it up with the necessary actions.  Yet if 1) you can’t get past your confirmation biases; 2) you continue to believe that you are already good at what you do i.e. you regard ourselves as definitely being “better than average”, and 3) you can’t break away from your deeply ingrained habits, you’ll end up doing what Albert Einstein once said about ‘insanity’.

“Doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results” 

So you need to distinguish between what is real and what is imagined and then take the appropriate actions to rectify it.

Here are two quotes which clearly demonstrate this point.

1. “All wise thinkers have said for ages that the greatest limitations are those man imposes on himself, and thus the greatest obstacles to success is a mental obstacle.” – Mark Fisher from his book “The instant millionaire: a tale of wisdom and wealth”.
2. One of the scenes from the 1980 film, “Star Wars Episode V” shows Yoda effortlessly freeing an X-Wing fighter from the bog by using “The Force”. Luke Skywalker amazed at what he had just witnessed says, “I don’t believe it”.  Yoda immediately responds with, “that is why you fail”.

About Tim Wilke

A specialist in current leadership thinking and combines this with the latest neuroscientific research on what makes a successful leader.

Author of the book, “Look Inside: Discovering the secret to leadership success“, which can be downloaded for FREE from the Kindle store until the 5^th December 2015 by clicking here.

Author of the e-book, “100 Things you should know about Leadership and Employee Engagement“. Click here to download a FREE copy.

The post Becoming a better leader requires changing the way you behave appeared first on Leading by Influence.

But why would you even want to do that, you ask? Well if the reviews below are anything to go by, there are probable a few reasons. 

It is obvious from the beginning that Tim is a storyteller and someone who understands and has analysed leadership from all angles. Part JK Rowling, part Barbara Cartland, Tim uses the intimacy of relationships to contextualise the nature of leading. His insights are palpable and he sets you on a unique journey of discovery that is entertaining yet fundamentally educational. A book for all those who aspire to be “good” leaders in the truest sense of the word. 

“Look Inside”‘ is set to become the next big thing in leadership training for both individuals and trainers. Weaved through the storyline is a powerful leadership system as well as a step-by-step methodology to incorporate the system into your life. ‘ROK Star’ Wilke also includes some practical tips for trainers wanting to use the book as the basis for leadership workshops. 

What sets “Look Inside” apart from other leadership books, is the skilful way that Tim Wilke blends a gripping story with leadership wisdom. I couldn’t put it down! 

Tim cleverly weaves, lessons, tools and strategies throughout his leadership tale and takes you on a compelling learning experience which includes a riddle, a secret code, a formula, a tool kit, an oath and a card deck. Tim has also included some thought provoking questions which will challenge your thinking and encourage you to act. 

Tim has a well articulated leadership formula and framework which he brings to the fore using a storytelling format. The book provides readers an opportunity for introspection of their own styles and personal formulas for leadership success. I have great pleasure in recommending this book for leaders of all levels. 

A compelling read formed from years of coalface experience and dedication to the art of leadership. 

Now to how I wrote, “Look Inside: Discovering the secret to leadership success”

I started in mid-2012, with the working title of “The Respect Code: A scientifically proven way to unlock your full leadership potential“. It was based on a concept similar to that of “The Da Vinci Code” by Dan Brown, in that a code is required to open a box full of tools for helping people become better leaders.

However at 18 months into writing the book, I had an epiphany. This being in the form of a Formula for Leadership Success. Well what else would you expect from someone who has a professional background in science and research?

Now without giving too much away, the Formula is made up of six different behavioural traits or characteristics which people must have if they are to be regarded as a great leader by their followers. However, I just didn’t pull this Formula out of thin air. It came from the following sources.

1. Studying the traits of influential leaders such as Dwight D. Eisenhower, 34^th President of the United States; Tony Hsieh, CEO Zappos.com; Richard Branson; Edwards Deming, influential business consultant; Wayne Bennet, an NRL coach who holds the record for the most grand final wins and Dr’s Bill Horsfall, Denis Campbell and Dilip Dhupelia, my early mentors and role models.
2. Reading books by Dale Carnegie, Stephen R Covey, John C Maxwell, Daniel Goleman, Stephen Lundin, David Rock, Daniel Pink and Ken Blanchard.
3. But most importantly, by analysing my own observations and experiences from 27 years in general management and 13 years as a chief executive.

However I was acutely aware that it’s one thing knowing what the Formula for Leadership Success is, but it’s another thing entirely to put it into practice. The reason for this is as the mentor in the book says, “adopting a new behaviour is much easier said than done. Knowing this, (I’ve) devised a 3-pronged approach to overcome this difficulty. The details of which are this.”

1. Eight behaviour-changing activities collectively referred to as the RESPECT process. So my original idea of the Respect Code got replaced by a process with the same name.
2. A range of fun tools to make the process more enjoyable. There was no way that the tools were ever not going to be included in the book.
3. A schedule to help keep you on track.

However when I had almost finished writing the book, I thought “this all sounds a bit sciencey and dry“. What if I used the concepts contained within it, to write a story about two “supposedly” fictitious characters who set out on a journey together to discover the secret to leadership success. I figured if FISH!, by Stephen Lundin, could successfully hook in readers, I could do the same with LOOK INSIDE!

After another year I finally finished the story-version of my book.

But where did the “Look Inside” bit of the title come from, you ask? Well my next door neighbour, who is also a writer, came up with that, the meaning of which will become obvious after you read it. I added the by-line of “Discovering the secret to leadership success“. Not much thought was needed for that.

So I hope you enjoy my story of two friends – Bryon and Ruby – who were keen throughout most of their journey of discovery to work out what it actually takes to be a good leader. But most importantly I hope it helps you become the leader you’ve always wanted to be. Because it’s as two of the reviewers said. 

1. “Tim is right when he says great leaders are not born. They are made.” 
2. “The secret is out, no more excuses.”

About Tim Wilke

Specialist in current leadership thinking and combines this with the latest neuroscientific research on what makes a successful leader.

Author of the e-book, “100 Things you should know about Leadership and Employee Engagement“. Click here to download a free copy.

The post “How I wrote the book, Look Inside: Discovering the secret to leadership success”, by Tim Wilke appeared first on Leading by Influence.

Alison Vidotto, CEO of the Vidotto Group and leadership trainer, gave us the following insightful quote.

“How your team is performing is a reflection on you as a leader.”

Why insightful, you ask? Well let me explain.

When someone is a good leader, employees willing follow that person. And when employees do this, they give their best for both the business and the leader.

Or to be more specific, they,

• are more productive, the result of which is a business that is usually more profitable.
• Have greater loyalty to the company, which means there is less employee turnover.
• Deliver a better customer experience, which leads to increased sales.

When that’s put into diagrammatic form, from the original work of James Heskett et al, it looks like this.

Now if you want to know about the basis for this diagram, just click here.

Or to take the polar opposite view of it, a business which has mostly bad leaders results in these specific things happening.

• 50% less productivity.
• 30% less profitability.
• 10% less sales.
• 3 times as much staff turnover.
• Twice as many sick days.
• Around 50% more safety incidents.

So to finish where I started, Alison Vidotto’s advice is certainly insightful and now you know why.

The post Good leaders have high performing teams and vise versa for that of bad leaders appeared first on Leading by Influence.