Crucial Influence, Third Edition: Leadership Skills to Create Lasting Behavior Change

by Joseph Grenny

From the bestselling authors who taught the world how to have Crucial Conversations comes the new edition of Crucial Influence (previously published as Influencer). Drawing on cases studies of remarkable leaders and the research of renowned behavioral scientists, this guide explains why people do what they do and how leaders can influence behavior to drive results. It all comes down to a powerful yet simple model—the Six Sources of Influence. Learn how to identify the personal, social, and structural levers that influence both motivation and ability, and how to work these levers for directed behavior change.

This new edition updated stories and examples of the Influencer model; new research on behavior change; practical applications for today's challenges; new insights from the authors' experience applying the model over the last fifteen years; updated statistics, facts, and figures; and new case studies and business examples.

Learn effective influence strategies from leaders who demonstrate that leadership is intentional influence. Knowing how to motivate and enable others to change may be the most important leadership skill you'll ever acquire. Once you tap into the power of influence, you can reach out and help others work smarter, grow faster, live better, and even save lives.

Genres: Leadership, Business, Nonfiction, Audiobook, Self Help, Psychology, Personal Development

Audible Audio

Published May 30, 2023

Reviews

[Janalee · Rating 5 out of 5]

Audiobook. This was filled with value. I need to own it. I first discovered Joseph from an interview on Leading Saints Podcast, then I went into full investigative mode and hunted down his books and youtube presentations. All very well done. Go check out "Are we losing? a gospel perspective on imperfect families" on You tube.

Tackling problems involve articulating the goal you want to achieve and then measuring data (ex: when we watch a ball game, we like the data - score - constantly measured) This gives us feedback to see if what we are doing is working. It keeps the mission in the forefront of our mind.

Another example is when patients weren't taking their meds, the dr gave them a monitor to track their levels and this made them more likely to take the med because they could see the feedback and it kept their attention.

We learned about The Other Side Academy - a rehab that houses addicts or criminals for 2.5 years and teaches them skills and better behavior. There is a 90% success rate. And it's free.

There are 6 prongs and we need all six to create change. Just like you wouldn't ask 6 strong guys to move your car one at a time. You need all 6 working together.

Find where it's working and go take notes. ex: nurses quitting over covid but in one hospital the nurses were not quitting. so they studied that one and discovered why. ( better treatment, incentives, etc)

Choose influential leaders to carry a message you want to instill or nobody will listen.

Choice vs Coercion.

I stopped taking notes at one point so that's all you get but I wouldn't mind owning this one.

[Heather · Rating 5 out of 5]

This feels like an updated and more focused version of Influencer: The Power to Change Anything with little parts of Crucial Conversations. It talks about ability, motivation, and social and structural constructs that help enable and encourage change. Leaders are intentional in determining what they want, finding the right way to measure whether they're getting there, and identifying vital behaviors that will help them get there. Here are some favorite quotes:

"What makes this incident remarkable is not just that it happened at all, but that similar actions routinely occur in each of Danny's restaurants. Employees go above and beyond to create an unparalleled customer experience (p. 5)."

"We will be... looking for the common thread that connects all successful leaders--no matter the objective or the setting (p. 6)."

"Leadership is intentional influence (p. 6)."

"Leadership is about mobilizing others to achieve the vision, challenge the status quo, build breakthrough products, and execute flawlessly on lofty plans. Leadership is the human process of cooperative achievement. Ture leaders possess the repeatable capacity to influence rapid, profound, and sustainable behavior change to produce valued results (p. 6)."

"The key to consistent high-quality performance was influencing his employees to practice two vital behaviors: (1) admit when they have problems, and (2) speak up immediately when they won't meet a deadline (p. 7)."

"If it involves people, it's an influence problem (p. 9)."

"Learning how to motivate and enable others to change their actions may be the most important skill you'll ever acquire (p. 9)."

"The most effective leaders don't stumble into success; they develop repeatable ways of systematically influencing lasting change (p. 11)."

"It's one thing to explain success in retrospect. It's another to repeatedly create it (p. 13)."

"There are three things effective leaders do better than the rest of us. All three show a more effective way of approaching influence... Why are they doing that? How can I help them do this instead? (p. 17)"

"First, focus on results. Great leaders are better at articulating what they want to achieve and how they will measure it.
Second, identify a small handful of vital behaviors. These are the specific behavioral changes needed to disproportionality improve results.
Third, engage all six sources of influence to support your vital behaviors (p. 19)."

"Key 1: Focus and Measure (p. 20)"

"The first thing effective leaders do is focus and measure... 'Measurement isn't just about tracking results... It's also about motivating action.'... Effective measurement drives attention, motivation, and learning. Less effective leaders measure out of habit or compliance... The way you know if you're measuring the right things in the right way is by asking, 'How does this measure influence behavior?' (p. 22)."

"They weren't going to save an impressive number of lives 'as soon as they could.' They were going to save 100,000 lives from medical errors by 9 a.m. of June 14 of the next year (p. 24)."

"Great leaders don't merely start their change efforts with their ultimate results in mind. They take care to craft their goals into a clear and compelling results statement that provides focus and motivation to teams, organizations, and even whole countries to rally around a compelling cause (p. 25)."

"Either leaders take no measures, they measure something too distant to be motivating or their measures are too infrequent to sustain attention (p. 26)."

"People who feel no control have no sense of connection. So it's crucial to include a measure that will demonstrate meaningful progress toward the goal for everyone involved (p. 27)."

"Measurement must both sustain attention and inform action (p. 28)."

"Measurement is influence (p. 29)."

"Key 2: Find vital behaviors (p. 29)"

"To influence people's behavior, you'll need to influence the way they feel and the way they think (p. 30)."

"Once you learn something, you're responsible to teach it to your brothers and sisters (p. 33)."

"Leaders create experiences that help nurses know:
1. Leadership cares about them.
2. Help is available when they need it.
3. They have opportunities for professional growth (p. 35)."

"Effective leaders understand that influence is about changing behavior. They set themselves up for success by clearly identifying the one or two actions that, if practiced consistently, will create a cascade of change (p. 36)."

"Key 3: Engage all six sources of influence...
Source 1. Personal motivation... Do they get pleasure or a sense of meaning from doing the wrong thing?...
Source 2. Personal ability... Can they do it?...
Source 3. Social motivation... Do others encourage them to enact the wrong behavior?...
Source 4. Social ability... Do others assist them? Are they enabled to do it?...
Source 5. Structural motivation... Are they rewarded for doing it, or punished for doing it?...
Source 6. Structural ability... Does their environment enable them? (p. 36)"

"We have a favorite source of influence we reflexively lean on when trying to help others change. One of the fastest ways to amplify your influence is to learn to spot your bias, then broaden your options (p. 42)."

"If the behavior you're trying to change is supported only by one source of influence, changing that one might be sufficient to improve results (p. 43)."

"Virtually all forces that influence human behavior work on one of two drivers... 'Can I do it? and, 'will it be worth it?'... 'Am I able?'... 'A I motivated?' (p. 43)"

"Behavior is driven by motivation and ability, and those drivers can both be broken down into three helpful subcategories: personal, social, and structural (p. 44)."

"Do you currently face a change challenge? (p. 47)"

"Good leaders help people love what they might otherwise hate, using four powerful reframing tactics...
1. Allow for choice.
2. Create direct experiences.
3. Tell meaningful stories.
4. Make it a game (p. 49, 55)."

"'Just because a desire or behavior is natural, does not mean it is unchangeable' (p. 52)."

"The best leaders don't assume that others take the low road because of a moral defect. They consider that the behavior might be caused by a lack of understanding or a lack of awareness of consequences. The problem is not that these people are incapable of caring about others. It's that they aren't thinking about others at that particular moment (p. 54)."

"We often mistake ambivalence for apathy (p. 56)."

"Demanding that people change rarely leads to change (p. 57)."

"By replacing a lecture with an interview, Diego has started to help him reconnect with motivations he already has (p. 58)."

"A change of heart can't be imposed; it can only be chosen. People are capable of making enormous sacrifices when they have the choice to act on their own (p. 59)."

"The most powerful way to help people recognize, feel, and believe in the long-term implications of their choices is to get out of their way and let them experience them firsthand (p. 60)."

"Lifetime criminals have no idea what a law-abiding life might be like (p. 63)."

"The challenge with offering people direct experiences is that it's tough to create them for all of the people you need to influence. Is there something you can do that offers some of the power of direct experience without consuming so much time and so many resources? (p. 65)"

"When called for, they create vicarious experiences through telling compelling stories (p. 71)."

"In the first moments after a critical incident, leaders have an opportunity to frame the moment (p. 72)."

"Consider the elements of an enjoyable game: keeping score.... competition... constant improvement... control... By tapping into the intrinsic human desire for accomplishment, competition, improvement, and control, gamifying vital behaviors can naturally amplify personal motivation (p. 73)."

"When you develop the discipline to examine possible ability barriers, you substantially increase your potential for effective influence (p. 77)."

"If you want to influence change... consider ability problems first, motivation second (p. 77)."

"Will might be a skill (p. 82)."

"The three elements of deliberate practice that should be part of any effort to address ability...
1. Practice one or two specific skills
2. At the edge of ability
3. With immediate feedback and coaching (p. 85)."

"A key to their remarkable improvement was deliberate practice (p. 87)."

"Many of the profound and persistent problems we face stem more from a lack of skill than from a genetic curse, a lack of courage, or a character flaw (p. 90)."

"Engage them in practice in addressing emotions that might undermine their attempts to change (p. 92)."

"We are inescapably shaped by those around us... Smart leaders appreciate the tremendous power humans hold over one another, and instead of denying it, lamenting it, or attacking it, they embrace and enlist it. They use the power of social influence to support change by ensuring that the right people provide encouragement, coaching, and even accountability during crucial moments (p. 95)."

"1. Social influence starts with us. No influence effort can succeed if the leader doesn't 'walk the talk.'
2. The pace of change is determined by how quickly formal leaders and opinion leaders join in.
3. Peer accountability is the ultimate accelerant for change (p. 99)."

"The first place to look for social influence is in the mirror. When you ask people to take on new behaviors, the first question they ask is, 'Why should I follow you?' (p. 101)"

"Many people believe that the only way to build social influence is to slowly build a relationship of trust with those you lead (p. 103)."

"If you want to increase your influence with those you hope to help change... you're going to have to make some sacrifices... time... money... ego... other priorities (p. 104)."

"The first responsibility for creating social support for change lies in your own actions (p. 107)."

"We've seen that one person, especially a formal leader, can have an enormous effect on motivating others to enact vital behaviors... it's essential that you engage the chain of command (p. 108)."

"'What behaviors will executives need to change if we want to truly break down silos?' (p. 112)"

"How do you create new norms?...
1. Make the undiscussable discussable.
2. Create 200 percent accountability (p. 114)."

"Unhealthy norms are almost always sustained by a culture of silence (p. 115)."

"When you make the undiscussable discussable, you openly embrace rather than fight the power of social influence. Changes in behavior must be preceded by changes in the public discourse (p. 116)."

"Whether through encouragement of the right behavior, confronting the wrong behavior, or a combination of the two, the strength of new norms is dependent on the consistency with which people are willing to speak up and defend them (p. 118)."

"Create an environment in which everyone is responsible not just to enact the vital behaviors themselves--but to hold others accountable for them as well (p. 121)."

"People who are respected and connected can exert an enormous amount of influence over any change effort (p. 121)."

"They create smart and workable plans blessed by the full resources of a motivated group (p. 131)."

"Effective leaders anticipate the many ways people might need social support as they practice new behaviors... permission, modeling, help, coaching (p. 133)"

"Engaging them in teaching roles can be an effective way of ensuring that people are not just encouraged but enabled to adopt new behavior (p. 136)."

"Sometimes people need an example of what a new behavior could look like in the real world. People need to see people like them putting the behavior into practice in a way they find credible (p. 136)."

"'You stop growing when you start lying' (p. 136)."

"The only hope of saving lives was to treat the crisis as a social science problem, not a medical science one. In other words, by influencing behavior (p. 145)."

"They are enabled or inhibited by the kind of mentoring, guidance, and connections an individual is given early on (p. 147)."

"Your goal with structural motivation should not be to overwhelm people to change (p. 151)."

"Kids who were rewarded for doing something they already enjoyed began to enjoy the activity less (p. 153)."

"How you frame is how you feel (p. 154)."

"Think small. Reward behavior, not just results. Punish sparingly (p. 157)."

"Influential leaders find ways to reward sincere efforts to apply vital behaviors--even when the results are modest (p. 162)."

"The behavior you reward will drive the behavior you get (p. 163)."

"Whenever possible, provide a clear warning to let people know exactly what negative things will happen to them if they continue down their current path (p. 165)."

"When the threat of negative consequences isn't enough to influence change, the consequences need to be enforced (p. 169)."

"One of the simplest ways to increase your influence is to make physical and virtual changes that make bad behavior harder and good behavior easier (p. 171)."

"One of the best ways to increase people's ability to change is to simply modify some aspect of their environment to make the old behavior harder or the good behavior easier (p. 171)."

"Create incentives for quality improvement (p. 172)."

"Sometimes introducing a simple technology or tweaking a process is the fastest path to change (p. 173)."

"Common categories of structural influencers include the physical, informational, virtual, and social (p. 174)."

"We must become environmentally competent. We must (1) remember to think about things and (2) be able to come up with theories of how changing things will change behavior (p. 176)."

"Make physical and virtual changes that make bad behavior harder and good behavior easier...
1. Add a cue.
2. Change the data stream.
3. Promote propinquity.
4. Make it easy.
5. Change a process (p. 177)."

"By coloring every tenth chip, Wansink helped make the invisible visible (p. 177)."

"They showcased select information at crucial moments to prompt different decisions (p. 179)."

"Influential leaders understand the importance of an accurate data stream and serving up visible, timely and accurate information that supports their goals. Instead of falling victim to data, they manage it (p. 180)."

"There's nothing like a little bit of data coupled with a social nudge to both motivate and enable change (p. 182)."

"Simply altering distance can be enough to influence dramatic behavior change. Move your exercise bike from near your TV to your basement, and you've just dramatically cut your chances of using it (p. 192)."

"Healthcare institutions have also learned the importance of making the correct behavior easier (P. 193)."

"The ultimate way to make better choices easier is to make them inevitable (p. 194)."

"Sometimes the easiest way to lead change is to change a process, routine, or ritual (p. 196)."

"What result do I want? And how will I measure progress?
What vital behaviors are key to achieving that result (p. 199)?"

"Developing the discipline of considering all of the sources of influence amplifies your leadership with even everyday challenges (p. 203)."

"Don't miss the hundreds of opportunities life presents to you to think and act more intentionally about influence. A little more thought can lead to a lot more influence (p. 204)."

"Good diagnosis leads to effective influence by revealing the humbling complexity of human behavior (p. 207)."

"We also hope that the framework we've offered motivates you to continue your learning (p. 207)."

"'Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it is the only thing that ever has' (Margaret Mead, p. 208)."

[Mark Henkel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Crucial Influence, Third Edition: Leadership Skills to Create Lasting Behavior Change is an excellently-done re-version of the authors' previous book, Influencer: The Power to Change Anything. This group of five authors have built a book brand around the word "Crucial." For example, it started with their 2002 book, Crucial Conversations: Tools for Talking When Stakes are High, Third Edition.

I read this book here, Crucial Influence, Third Edition: Leadership Skills to Create Lasting Behavior Change, in 2023, from August 19 to 26. Including underlining, margin-noting, and following Endnotes, it took me 510 Minutes to read this entire book: exactly 8 hours and 30 minutes.

Without any plan of intent, it is ironic that exactly two years ago, in 2021, I had first read the older book, Influencer, over the exact same days of August 19 to August 26. I rated it 5 Stars.

One year ago, in 2022, from July 1 to July 10, 2022, I also read Crucial Conversations. I also rated that book 5 Stars.

With this as background, I now can see that the authors "re-packaged" their message of the "6 Sources of Influence" to create this new re-version to match their brand of "Crucial" topics.

Where the older version, titled, Influencer, contains 10 chapters, this newer re-version, titled, Crucial Influence, Third Edition: Leadership Skills to Create Lasting Behavior Change contains 9 chapters. Instead of having 3 chapters in Part 1, the newer re-version has only 2 chapters in Part 1. The Part 2 in both versions contain 7 chapters, one for each of the "6 Sources of Influence" and a concluding chapter.

Readers will note that I have been using the word, "re-version," as opposed to the word for an updated, new "edition." I have written it that way because there actually is a difference that does give cause for separating the re-version from the original.

The concluding chapter titles give the difference away.

The final chapter of Influencer: The Power to Change Anything is titled,
Become an Influencer.

The final chapter ofCrucial Influence, Third Edition: Leadership Skills to Create Lasting Behavior Change is titled,
Become an Leader.

There you have it: the different foci between the two versions is that of becoming an Influencer versus becoming a Leader.

Readers may obtain a deeper insight into the "6 Sources of Influence" (even as a Leader must BE an Influencer!) via the earlier Book Review I wrote two years ago for "Influencer."

Once that is read, readers may then understand that the authors intentionally built a re-version to more specifically apply those same principles for those seeking to develop Leadership.

The epitaph at the start of the concluding chapter of Crucial Influence, Third Edition: Leadership Skills to Create Lasting Behavior Change explains it all:

"The greatest hope for solving every significant problem we face as a planet is for more people to become influential leaders."

Ultimately, great Leaders ARE great Influencers.

Regardless of being a re-packaged re-version, this book is important and valuable for being read and re-read (or at least often re-skimmed) in one's own library.

As such, in its own right,
Crucial Influence, Third Edition: Leadership Skills to Create Lasting Behavior Change
is a 5-Star Book.

[Kiera Beddes · Rating 4 out of 5]

A wonderfully detailed way of breaking down the components of leadership and influence, and also giving really actionable steps towards creating effective change. It sounds like a lot of c-suite jargon, but there are so many implications for teacher leadership, that I found it really enlightening.

[Laura-Jane Barber · Rating 5 out of 5]

Backwards design applies here too. Educators know.

[Lynne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Super interesting and very practical. Extremely useful for both business and personal applications. Only downside is so much info that it’s hard to digest effectively!

[Raymon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great insights and strategies. Again, with this genre I want a 20 page report on this information instead.

[Kelly Anderson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another great addition to the crucial skills series. A must read for all leaders.

[Maris]

Seems like a lot of things get tagged as "influence" in this book, repeats some good takes like, making things easier to do for people makes the actions more likely to be done, analysing more deeply why something works or doesn't gives more insight into how to fix it - book offers guidelines on how to do this, says that good leaders will have a concrete measure they are looking at when influencing change.
So the formula is something like - articulate what you want to achieve and how to measure it, identify the small handful of behaviors needed to change to achieve this, engage the 6 sources of influence (personal motivation, personal ability, social motivation, social ability, structural motivation, and structural ability). The concrete outcome plus a way to measure it isn't new as such, and probably encompasses one type of successful leader - where results can be measured in some quantitative way, like reducing HIV emissions or smoking. But areas in which measuring is inherently harder, like how good someone is at research (though there are proxies like publishing in high impact journals etc), this side doesn't get addressed as much. I can think of leaders who are good at influence via charisma and ability to craft narratives, rather than also being able to articulate clearly what good results will look like.
I quite liked the part where the author emphasises considering failures in behavioral change as potentially coming from lack of ability instead of lack of motivation, as that opens up a wide area for added change.

[Scott Wozniak · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the third version of a book that was five stars in version one. The changes are minor (newer stories, a bit on mistakes to avoid when trying these methods, etc.) and they all were good. Interestingly, instead of getting more bloated each version, I think it's actually shorter in this version, though that could just be a result of me getting sucked into the stories and insights and not realizing how long it took.

Key insight: influence isn't just one force. There are several forces of influence, shaping our lives, and if you want to make change, you should work to point them all in the same direction--or as many of them as you can. So many other books and leaders advocate for their favorite force, but if the change really matters, you don't use one tool and cross your fingers in hope. You bring everything you can to bear on the problem.

The stories of change are powerful all by themselves, too. Great change is possible. It's being done all over the world in the most difficult situations.

If you're a leader or if you have a dream of seeing something in your world changed--even if that something is yourself--then this book is MUST READ. I have read hundred, maybe thousands of books on change by now (literally) and this is the most comprehensive and practical book on the topic I know of.

[Kristin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Key One: Focus and Measure
• Define the problem and the goal. The goal should not be too vague or broad.
• Measure early and often. The more frequently it's measured, the more weight it's perceived as having.

Key Two: Find Vital Behaviors
Positive Deviance: find someone who should have the problem but doesn't, and analyze the behaviors that lead to their success.

Key Three: Engage All Six Sources of Influence

• Personal Motivation:
- Ask, do they get a sense of meaning or pleasure from doing the wrong thing?
- Help them love what they hate.
- Help others reframe the behavior using 4 tactics:
✔️ Allow for choice: if you can't say no, then saying yes has no meaning. Use motivational interviews, asking pointed questions that reconnect someone with their desire to do the right thing.
✔️ Create direct experiences: Ask people to just try it.
✔️ Tell meaningful stories
✔️ Make it a game: keep score, create competition (with themselves or others), shoot for constant improvement, and ensure points and rewards are within individuals' control rather than being folded into the bigger group goal.

• Personal Ability:
- Ask, do they have the skills, abilities, and understanding to do it?
- Help them do what they can't.
- Practice one or two specific skills at the edge of ability with immediate feedback and coaching.
- People learn best under conditions of mild stress.

• Social Motivation:
- Ask, do others encourage them to enact the wrong behavior?  Choose both the message and the messenger carefully.
- Provide encouragement.
- Four sacrifices accelerate trust:
✔️ Time
✔️ Money
✔️ Ego
✔️ Other Priorities
- Build relationships with the opinion leaders in your group (1 to 2 in every 20) and convince them; these people will influence others on your behalf.
- Enlist peer accountability:
✔️ Make the undiscussable discussable. Make taboo topics open to public discourse.
✔️ Practice 200% accountability: everyone is responsible to enact the expected behaviors, as well as to hold others accountable to the expected behaviors.

• Social Ability:
- Ask, do others assist them; are they enabled to do it?
- Provide assistance.
✔️ Social permission. Those with formal or informal authority must overtly enable behavior that might have been taboo in the past.
✔️ Modeling. If a picture is worth a thousand words, a live model who shows what vital behaviors look like in action is worth millions.
✔️ Help. Help is needed when people haven’t yet mastered the new behavior.
✔️ Real-time coaching to lift others to the next level. Learning is accelerated when coaching immediately follows an initial attempt at new behavior.

• Structural Motivation:
- Ask, are they rewarded for doing it, or punished for not doing it?
- Change their economy.
- Reward with care.
- Use incentives wisely:
✔️ Think small
✔️ Reward behavior, not just results
✔️ Punish sparingly
- Use extrinsic rewards third, after personal and social motivations.

• Structural Ability:
- Ask, does the environment enable them?
- Change their environment.
- Make bad behavior harder and good behavior easier.
- Use things to make good behavior easier:
✔️ Add a cue
✔️ Change the data stream: be cautious about too much data; only gather and share what reinforces vital behaviors
✔️ Promote propinquity (physical proximity)
✔️ Make it easy
✔️ Change a process

[Antonia · Rating 5 out of 5]

As someone with a systemic approach in life, I enjoyed the perspective of the authors on the leadership influence: the success in driving behavior changes is based on the combination of six sources of influence; motivation and ability represent the foundation, from which three distinct categories subdivide: personal, social and structural, that refer to psychology, sociology and organizational theory.

“To us, asking, “Which [source of influence] is most important?” is like asking, “Which major human organ is most important? Heart? Lungs? Brain? Can you prioritize those for me?” The Six-Sources of Influence is a model of systemic influence. Each source interacts with others to produce action, and each may affect some people more than others.”

The stories of change are impactful and I liked how theory blended with practical examples. As a takeaway, great change is possible.

[Juan Jacobo Bernal · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Crucial Influence" by Joseph Grenny is packed with engaging examples and underpinned by solid scientific principles, making its insights highly compelling. The book's clear and structured presentation inspired me to immediately apply its concepts in my work, particularly in an upcoming leadership workshop. However, I was surprised by the lack of any mention of "Switch" by Chip and Dan Heath, a hugely popular bestseller that similarly advocates for structural changes to encourage behavioral compliance. Despite this omission, "Crucial Influence" remains a powerful resource for anyone looking to make a significant impact.

[Mina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Easy read to remind you of the power of influence & how to help behaviors change. Others have to conclude for themselves how much they want to change. 6 sources of influence: personal motivation, personal ability, social motivation, social ability, structural motivation, structural ability. Authors did a great job to examine each one and provide multiple examples. Loved the study that was done about kids that ate 73% more on bigger plates and how it was applied to leadership skill of changing the environment.

[Kelli Van Cleave · Rating 4 out of 5]

So many great tactics to influence change in an organization. As a leader, you could implement these techniques right away, but it would work best if you could get in from the top to create momentum and change.

Regardless reading this book will help you understand how to motivate people learning how to Lanoue ens them in many different ways.

Great read could be something you consume little by little overtime to ensure you’re able to implement what you’re learning. Consuming it all at once would make it hard to implement because there is so much.

[Tom · Rating 4 out of 5]

Overall a helpful book on understanding personal motivation and behavior change. I've long held one person can't motivate another, but can provide an atmosphere, culture, and incentives that will help others motivate themselves. This book does well in addressing the personal aspect of change and why some do change and why some don't. Further there are great tips on creating a culture that encourages change. My only wish would be for some type of tool, template, or flowchart to help in application of the principles.

[Mandy Shackelford · Rating 5 out of 5]

If I could only recommend one leadership book, it is this one! Relatable and memorable stories that drive the concepts home. This book can be applied to all kinds of situations regardless of formal leadership. I took the Influencer course years ago and have used the 6 sources of Influence countless times. And who can ever forget the Guinea Worm? This edition has been updated to address the evolving work place and definition of an "Influencer". These folks had the term first, but gotta adjust for language evolution.

[Lowell · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read in preparation for attending a "Crucial Influence" training with some fellow managers.

Great training, conversation in a group setting, and principles.

However, like any business book, it's "cotton candy" and warm fuzzy ideas unless intentionally and uncomfortably implemented over time.

I hope to see this gradually become part of my subconscious, just as much as "Crucial Conversations" has over the past decade. For the time being, until it's integrated into my life, 3 stars.

[Khai Sheng · Rating 4 out of 5]

a few things i liked about this book:
- like "Crucial Conversations", it's not pure fluff. there is a clear framework to follow. there is a literal 2x3 strategy grid too I LOVE IT
- the idea of vital behaviours: what do we want people to do more of, to create an outcome?
- a very empathetic reframing of why things don't get done: it's less about a lack of motivation, but about a lack of capability

[Mada · Rating 3 out of 5]

I initially rated this as 2 stars and wanted to say it’s deeply derivative from Influencer and Crucial Conversations (same authors). Then I saw it’s actually a rewrite of Influencer and I still say it overlaps with Crucial Conversations.

It’s still useful information and as a standalone book (without going through the others) it brings value in implementing changes (from leadership positions or not).

[Beckie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this as part of our manager group book discussion for CNS managers. I looked forward to it and it was helpful, but considering all the steps and needs to do it justice through these recommendations is complex, and takes a lot of thought, or maybe practice, to make it more innate. Will need to continue to review lessons learned and re-visit. Hardcover.

[Arun Narayanaswamy · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good book on understanding the spheres of influence and how to leverage that in conversations and situations.

Only thing I would say is that the book starts with an intent to share powerful stories, but seem incomplete or inadequately covered in the subsequent chapters.

Overall a good book and lots to learn.

[Amanda · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love a Crucial Conversations/Learning book. This one didn't disappoint (though I have realized that I'm more inclined to listen along to webinars of theirs, rather than picking up a book). So much of this also reminds me of animal training, which makes sense -- we're all animals. :) Good, practical advice and examples, and the layout is pretty easy to refer back to.

[Sherry Bentley · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book does a great job of showing the six sources of influence. I think I might need to read it again to further absorb the concepts, though. There were examples of large-scale influences, but I would have preferred more business-related and daily-life examples to better illustrate the concepts in the book. Overall, it was a great guide in influencing behavior to achieve outcomes.

[Jessica Mikesell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read this book as a requirement for work. It has a lot of great insight! However, it was definitely on the dry side. Not something I would recommend reading if you're wanting to be entertained or looking for a spark of motivation. There are better books for that.
If you're strictly looking to improve your leadership skills, I would say this is a valuable option.

[Mike Doel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good ideas, compactly presented

I found this book effective in helping me to understand the model the authors have for understanding how different facets of exerting influence can lead to change. Some of the examples are perhaps overly simplistic, but this will be a benefit when it is time to use the ideas in the real world.

[Matt]

The authors take a systems approach to changing behaviors within an organization. I think they could have better connected their insights to some of the pioneers in the field of systems thinking and organizational management. But the clarity created with how they framed their approach, as well as the anecdotes of the six influences in action, make this book a worthy read for all leaders.

[Melissa Babin · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book has good information with reminders and stories articulating the use of spheres of influence. I did not find the information to be groundbreaking, but do you believe it to be helpful to new leaders or those struggling with challenging behaviors within their teams

[Andrea B · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 ⭐️

Average introductory book on how to influence. I think I’d rate it lower if this wasn’t my first book on how to improve influencing. For an already short book, I felt it could be even shorter..

[Jenn · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was asked to present on the principles in this book after the author, Joseph Grenny, spoke at my school in-service meeting. I ended up reading the whole book to prepare. I like the ideas though they need practice to become automatic.