3 Steps to Engaging As Yourself

Here’s 3 steps to engaging as yourself:

1. Know your own MAGNETIC POWER

All of us have magnetic power. As a basic level, this can be positional: In family, this is the fact that we’re family. In the workplace, it could be your formal authority.

But position is the lowest level of leadership. And for engagement, there are far more powerful things that attract people that position… our personality, strengths, history, qualifications and perspective all come into play here.

2. Know how you best “emit” that power

Say you’re in a meeting with a difficult stakeholder. What do you say? How do you speak? Where do you sit? There’s so many theories on all of this, but it must all begin with understanding what YOUR power is, and then, how YOU as a person BEST emit that in a way that you can do it comfortably.

Here’s some ways that you might emit your power: questions, expressions and gestures, using metaphor, going to first principles, tonality, silence, pressure, insouciance, organising, caring…

3. Have a rhythm of proactive relationship building

If you have to win over a stakeholder, but you only see them randomly or sporadically, you’re going to struggle to engage them. The most powerful technique to engage AS YOU ARE is the technique few want to do: build the relational capital before you need to make the withdrawal.

What Is your rhythm of staying in touch with people? For a start, check out this from Derek Sivers.