Influencing Up

by Allan R. Cohen, David Bradford

The authors of the classic Influence Without Authority explain the unique challenges of influencing powerful people Learn to overcome your difficulties with a boss who is uninterested in your concerns, or resistant to giving needed support. Or discover how to win the cooperation of senior managers who are hard to reach, and hard to sell on your ideas, products, or services. In their classic book, Influence Without Authority, Allan Cohen and David Bradford provided a universal model of how to influence someone you don't control. Influencing Up applies those ideas to problematic bosses and other powerful people, with sophisticated tactics for building partnerships with them.

If you're afraid of retaliation or just unclear as to how to change a senior person's behavior, don't stay paralyzed. Influencing Up gives you the tools to bridge the power gap.

Offers practical advice about how to turn your relationship with your boss into a partnership in which both parties benefit Explains what powerful people care about Shows how to overcome power gaps by developing more partner-like relationships Learn what a great partnership with your boss can do for your career—and your mental health!

Genres: Leadership, Business, Nonfiction

258 pages, Kindle Edition

First published May 11, 2012

Reviews

[Manu · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is full of very useful suggestions around building relationships with key stakeholders in your organization especially with senior leaders. The details are in the form of a step by step approach based model that anyone can use to influence the stakeholder whose help is needed for the success of critical projects that you are managing. This book has a dedicated section on how to build great working relationship with your boss. It is a very well written book with the suggestions that any one can apply right away in their daily lives and see the results real quick. This is the best part of this book!

[Harshal Patil · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book discusses the power differential between senior leadership and other employees. It emphasizes the need for employees to be aware of this dynamic. It is not egalitarian. Subordinates are responsible for figuring out what information or actions they need from higher-ups and how to influence their decisions. The influencing aspect is similar to what other books have mentioned.

The book shows a national sales lead with 15 years of experience. Despite his experience, his manager questioned every decision he made. The sales lead expressed his need for autonomy in some areas but also recognized the importance of providing his manager with the necessary information. This balance of asserting one's needs while respecting the manager's role is a key point in the book.

The book reminded me of *The Five Dysfunctions of a Team*, *Connect* by Stanford, and *Crucial Conversations*.
I rate this book's impact on me a 2 out of 5. I did not find much new information to learn. The book had fewer stories and more explanations, making it feel like it was talking down to me rather than taking me on a journey.

[Don · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found the book to be a real slog, but the insight is fantastic. Goes much deeper than your typical influence book. On par with Getting to Yes.

[Halle Ortiz · Rating 4 out of 5]

Recommended to me through work and highly recommend it for someone moving up in an organization. It was super insightful on how to speak to senior executives and gave me a lot to reflect on