Leadership is the ability to get people to follow you, while influence is the ability to keep the people who follow you for an extended period of time. In addition, influence refers to the ability to put a positive or negative spin on the actions, behavior, and/or opinions of other people. In other words, influence is FFPOWER and power is persuasion!
If a leader does not have influence over other team, then they will not have the power to persuade their team to complete the assigned tasks. However, influence and persuasion requires a foundation of trust. Without trust, employees are less likely to adopt the values, culture, and mission of the organization in a sincere, lasting way. Furthermore, since the ability to exert positive influence is something that is developed over time, learning to become an effective leader often takes years of experiences. Research has proven that all people have the ability to influence others, and every individual will lead someone-or multiple people-at one point or another.
One thing a leader must remember is that they do not know to what degree they are truly influencing others. Consequently, leaders must tread carefully, as they do not know how much others will do for them, nor do leaders know how much their team members will act just like them as the leader directs the members. Provided are the areas of power which will lead to persuasion, in which a leader can specialize in to increase their influencing skills:
