What do influential leaders do differently? They “pay” others in the currencies they value—whether recognition, resources, or a sense of belonging.
Leadership is influence. You can’t be a leader without people willing to follow you. Yet, all the talk of gaining power, applying influence, and using influence tactics often overlooks a more fundamental question: How can you be more influential? Can you force people to follow you based on your title alone? Of course not. So, how can you lead when you don’t have authority?
Today, I’ll share a new way of thinking about influential leadership: the currencies of influence.
The currencies of influence
You can’t trick people into following you. Nor can you rely on rational arguments to influence your peers. Instead, give people what they want. The most practical way I’ve found to think about influence is through the concept of currencies of influence.
A currency is what someone values. Your monthly salary influences you to get work done. But, most of the time, managers don’t motivate their staff by dangling money in front of them. Instead, influential people spend a range of often intangible and highly valued currencies to get others to follow them—everything from recognition and resources to the opportunity to be part of something bigger.
There are five types of commonly valued currencies. These are related to tasks, position, and relationships; they’re personal and inspirational. If you can pay someone in a currency they value, you’ll find yourself with someone willing to follow you. Let’s explore common tools of influence.
Tasks: Helping to get work done
Getting work done can be challenging. Your peers, employees, and boss will greatly value anything you can do to help. Here are a few task-related currencies:
- Challenge: Getting to do tasks that increase skills and abilities
- Resources: Obtaining budget increases, team members, space, and so forth
- Assistance: Receiving help with existing projects or unwanted tasks
- Information: Obtaining access to organisational or technical knowledge
Position: Bolstering their status
Status matters. If you help boost your peer’s reputation, she’ll happily follow your lead. Common position-related currencies include the following:
- Visibility: The chance to be known by higher-ups in the organisation
- Reputation: Being seen as competent and committed
- Recognition: Acknowledgment of effort, accomplishment, or abilities
Relationships: Strengthening your relationship
People want to feel connected, understood, and supported. You can make this happen by providing these:
- Inclusion: Feeling closeness and friendship
- Understanding: Having concerns and issues listened to
- Personal support: Receiving personal and emotional backing
Personal: Affirming their sense of self
People care about themselves. If you can make their life easier, help them feel better, or let them feel in control, you’ll win them to your side. Here are a few personal-related currencies:
- Comfort: Avoidance of hassles
- Gratitude: Appreciation or expression of indebtedness
- Self-concept: Affirmation of values, self-esteem, and identity
- Ownership / involvement: Ownership of and influence over important tasks
Inspirational: Connecting them with something greater
Meaningful work is hard to find. Help others to access this meaning with inspiration-related currencies:
- Vision: Being involved in work that has significance for the company or society
- Excellence: Having a chance to do important things well
- Moral correctness: Doing what is “right”
How can you be more influential?
To influence someone, give them what they want. Want your engineers to commit to an unpopular project? Make that project an opportunity for challenge and growth. Want your boss to approve a new initiative? Increase her reputation by attaching her name to a successful outcome. We have no shortage of wants and needs. Be a person who satisfies them.
Beyond these generalities, here is some practical advice on how to be more influential.
Pay what other people value, not what you value.
A common influence mistake is believing that everyone values the same things as you. This is patently false: consider how often your own needs change over a year, a project, or even a week! Before trying to convince your team to work late for a project, understand what they care about.
Paying what other people want unlocks leverage—you exchange the trivial for the meaningful, and both sides win. The lists above provide a helpful, yet not comprehensive, starting point. Consider what the people you need to influence care about most.
Trade, don’t persuade.
Facts and logic alone won’t convince people to join you. Instead, give them something they want—a challenging project, timely and relevant information, or simply more support for their work. Influence tactics don’t matter when you can give something meaningful. Forget cold, rational persuasion; offer valuable currencies that matter to the other person.
Know what you have to share.
You have more to give than you realise. What have your training and experience earned you? What you know about technology, your customers, and your organisation can all be put to good use. Further, some currencies cost nothing to spend. Share your appreciation, make the work of others more visible, and treat others with respect. Small acts can pay dividends over time.
If you find your influence running low, invest in yourself to build it. What skills could you learn that are valued by others? What favours can you offer in return for later support? Constantly make yourself more valuable so that people will follow you when it matters.
Where to start? Ask these five questions.
If you want to lead so that others follow, ask yourself these five questions:
- What change do I want to see? Start with the end in mind.
- What steps do I need to take? Define your smallest next action.
- Whose support do I need? Pinpoint the key people of influence.
- What do those people value? Pay what matters to them, not to you.
- What can I offer them? Remember what you have to share.
Keep in mind the common currencies of influence.
Leadership is influence. Influence means understanding what matters most to the people around you and offering something of value. By learning to “pay” others in the currencies they value—whether it’s recognition, resources, or a sense of belonging—you’ll naturally gain their support.
Start small. Recognise what you can offer, and be deliberate about using the right currencies of influence. Over time, you’ll become more influential and develop stronger relationships, better performance, and greater impact as a leader.