Strategic persuasion

requires networking.

0:01

In other words,

building relationships

0:04

across the 1,000 tribes.

0:06

The first step is to

map out your network.

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I like to call this creating

your stepping stone strategy.

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You start by figuring out

how things actually get done.

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This is often different

from the official story.

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For example, how do

decisions really get made?

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It's easy to assume

that only the people

0:29

with formal authority

make things happen.

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But as the famous business

guru Peter Drucker said,

0:35

this is a dangerous mistake.

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It's dangerous because

if you rely too much

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on the formal

lines of authority,

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you risk getting tangled up

in the lines that informally

0:46

connect people outside

of the org chart.

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To create your stepping

stone strategy,

0:53

you first need to identify

the key role people

0:55

play within the

informal organization.

0:58

There are four rules–

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boundary spanners, connectors,

peripheral players,

1:03

and subgroup members.

1:08

Boundary spanners are people

who have relationships

1:11

with others in different

parts of your company.

1:13

Boundary spanners can

help you understand

1:16

how others think or value.

1:18

And they can help introduce

you to the right people.

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They can also share

their perspective

1:24

on the informal organization

and maybe tell you

1:26

something new about how

things really get done.

1:29

Think of the six degrees

of separation phenomenon.

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Pick any important

person at random,

1:37

and you will usually

find that you

1:39

are no more than six

relationships away from them.

1:41

That is, you know someone

who knows someone, et cetera,

1:44

who knows the important person.

1:48

Do this analysis

enough, and you will

1:51

begin to find that one

or two people's names

1:53

frequently come up in the

chain of relationships

1:56

that connect you to others.

1:59

These people are the

boundary spanners,

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like central switching

points within your network.

2:04

And a small number of them

make a big difference.

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Studies show that

in major cities,

2:12

only a handful of people–

2:14

sometimes no more than 100 to

200 super boundary spanners–

2:16

control most of the actual

decision making power.

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So their position in the network

gives them enormous influence.

2:25

Rock star Bono, the

social entrepreneur

2:31

who became famous as the lead

singer of the rock group U2,

2:33

knows how to find

boundary spanners.

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When he's mapping out

an unfamiliar network–

2:40

a new government group, industry

association, a foundation–

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he asks everyone he speaks

with, who's the Elvis here?

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He wants to find the

pivotal people who

2:52

actually get things done.

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So you might ask, as you

look around your company,

2:56

where's mine Elvis?

2:59

Connectors–

connectors have lots

3:03

of relationships in their

own part of the company.

3:05

While spanners are

people who help bridge

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the gaps between

groups, connectors

3:11

can help you navigate

inside of a group.

3:14

Peripheral players are less

connected than either boundary

3:18

spanners or connectors.

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They might be specialists

who can get you up

3:23

to speed on some specific issue.

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Sometimes company

lawyers or accountants

3:28

are on the periphery

for just this reason.

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Finally, there are

subgroup members.

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A subgroup may be a function.

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It might be a group of

people in the same role,

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or who identify as

the same gender,

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or any number of factors.

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The question you should

ask about these groups

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is whether your goal

impacts them in some way.

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They tend to support or oppose

new ideas or initiatives

3:54

as a kind of political bloc.

3:58

It's important to remember

that in each conversation

4:01

you'll eventually

have, you should

4:04

have a positive,

energetic attitude,

4:06

even if you think you might

encounter some resistance.

4:09

Abraham Lincoln once

said that eloquence

4:13

consists in having thorough

conviction in your cause.

4:16

About 100 years later, LBJ,

another American president,

4:20

said–

4:24

what convinces is conviction.

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People tend to believe

you when you're confident

4:29

and believe in

what you're saying.

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By working hard to

craft your message,

4:34

you'll have a much better

story to tell about it as you

4:36

communicate it to others.

4:39

It will be a story that

you can believe in.

4:42

Your belief will help

make you more persuasive.

4:45

In the next module, we'll

talk about using stories

4:49

to communicate an idea

through your social network.

4:52