4 Ways to Increase Your Influence Up, Down, and Across the Board

So many times as leaders, we think about increasing our influence with our team, or maybe even our bosses, right? But how? It’s easy to assume we’re leading those that work below us, but can we influence those we work across from? And even the ones higher up that lead us? I think we can. In fact, I know we can!

John Maxwell calls it being a 360-degree leader. And if we ignore the 360-degree approach, then we’re the ones putting a lid on our own leadership!

So how can we actively increase our leadership up, down, and across? I think there are four key ways:

1. BE AN OPEN DOOR.

Start with building relationships across from you. Get to know them. Share your struggles, your skills, and your insights, and ask them to share theirs. Having a positive influence with other peer leaders on your team gives you an open door to greater collaboration, teamwork, and problem-solving. Building a culture of community instead of a state of silos has a drastically positive effect on those around you.

2. DO YOUR JOB EXTREMELY WELL.

You can’t effectively lead up if you’re not excelling in the job at hand. If your boss has to worry about you and your performance, you won’t be able to influence them. So develop your competence and crush your role!

3. SHOW THAT YOU’RE COACHABLE.

Let those above you see you’re eager to learn. Be willing to come to the table and shar what you’ve learned or tried in the last week. Bosses love to see teams challenging themselves to grow and improve. It’s an extremely powerful way to lead up.

4. CLIMB THE LEADERSHIP LADDER WITH EVERYONE ON YOUR TEAM.

When it comes to leading down, we can’t lean on titles or positions. That’s “level one” leadership, and it bears no long-term fruit. What are we doing as leaders to connect with our people and build relationships at the next level? What are we doing to produce as a team? And then what are we doing to develop leaders? Our mindset as leaders needs to stay focused on climbing the ladder of leadership.

Influencing up, across, and down isn’t easy—it takes focus and intention. But the returns on the investment go far beyond numbers and performance. It builds leaders.

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