Leadership, sales, and influence are really the same thing: a process for having people come to agree on who will do what, when for mutual benefit.
It’s not so much push, tell, or convince. It’s more like align, commit, and follow-through. We find a way for everyone to win (that is, having their needs met, not necessarily having their positions and proposals accepted) or we choose not to proceed for now.
What’s that? There must be losers? Sometimes people just have to do what they’re told? It’s too dang hard to go for win-win?!
Perhaps. But we can’t get away with pushing, telling, and convincing for very long. It always comes back to bite us. The ensuing struggle of trying to enforce our way will be far more costly than taking the time and energy to get alignment and follow through.
In your corner,
Mike