Influencing tip - trust
If people trust you, you can influence them: if they don't, you can't. So what do you need to do to be trustworthy? Here are the four things you need to work on to build up a track record of being someone who can be trusted.
Competence – people won't trust you unless they think you have the skills to do whatever it is they're trusting you with.
Openness and honesty. You have to be telling the truth – and this means delivering the bad news as well as the good.
Reliability. You have to deliver on your commitments - do what you say you are going to do.
Integrity and fairness. If people think you are have their interests at heart, they will trust you; if they think you are focussed on your own personal gain they will not.
Do you think you are a trustworthy person? Of course! But do the people you work with consider you a trustworthy person? What matters is their perception, not yours. What can you do (a) to find out how much you are trusted in your team or organisation and (b) improve your reputation as someone who can be trusted?