Influencer: The Power to Change Anything

A conversation with Kerry Patterson, best selling business author in leadership, influence, and communication. Do you have the tendency to "underwhelm" an "overwhelming" problem?

"It's not enough to do your best; you must know what to do, and THEN do your best." - W. Edwards Deming

Kerry Patterson

Welcome to a Leadership Channel podcast on Total Picture Radio with Peter Clayton reporting. Kerry Patterson is co-founder of VitalSmarts, an innovator in corporate training and organizational performance, and co-author of three immediate New York Times bestsellers: Influencer: The Power to Change Anything, Crucial Conversations: Tools for Talking When Stakes are High (Amazon.com links), and Crucial Confrontations: Tools for Resolving Broken Promises, Violated Expectations, and Bad Behavior. His award-winning training programs of the same titles have been used successfully by more than 300 of the Fortune 500 companies. Additionally, products resulting from his work have taught more than 2 million people worldwide, and have been translated into more than 20 languages.

Kerry began his research into the challenges of developing and maintaining healthy organizations during his doctoral work at Stanford University. He taught at Brigham Young University’s Marriott School of Management and then co-founded Interact Performance Systems, where he worked for ten years as vice president of research and development. Kerry is a recipient of the Mentor of the Year Award and the William G. Dyer Distinguished Alumni Award from the BYU Marriott School of Management.

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Questions Peter Clayton asked Kerry Patterson

I want to focus our conversation on Influencer, The Power to Change Anything - but first, what is the number one issue your clients have today? What is the urgent need your organization is finding out there?

Influencer, The Power to Change Anything is a book -- published by McGraw Hill last year, and a training course offered by VitalSmarts. So if I read the book, will I learn everything you teach in your course?

This is a question on your Crucial Skills Blog, I would like you to respond because it is so prevalent: Here’s the question... "I’ve been with the same company for twenty-five plus years. It is a good company. We have had three “workforce reductions” in the past six years. I feel another one coming. I am fifty and therefore vested. However, at fifty-five, my early retirement pay would go up. Even though I have always received the highest reviews, I still feel that I could be next. How do I approach management about this?"

Let’s talk about Influencer: How do you define influence?

What research was used in developing the concepts for Influencer?

What is a vital behavior and why are they significant?

You contend there are two mental maps -- Can I do what’s required? and “Will it be worth it? Can you expand on this?

A good deal of your book focuses on what you call the six sources of influence. Can you give us a brief overview?

What makes the Influencer model different from other change strategies?

How can an executive use the techniques in the book to create change?