Report Influence profile

Overall, your scores show that you still have a wide spectrum of opportunities to increase your influence. Read the report carefully and consider which forms of influence you want to work on first.

Dear Data doesn't exists,

You have completed the Perspective Principle Profile of Influence because you want to explore in which areas you can further develop your style of influence. In the report below you will find the graph with the scores and an explanation per style of influence. Here you can read which style of influencing you currently apply, what you are strong in and where your development opportunities lie. For each of the twelve forms of influence of the Perspective Principle you get detailed insight into how to become even more effective. Note: you have filled in the scores yourself and this report therefore gives an overview of your view of your own effectiveness.

This report is based on the answers provided by you while taking the test and is a reflection of how you view your own effectiveness and abilities in this area.

Radar Diagram Influencing Profile

In the radar diagram below you can see the scores from the scan displayed. The maximum score per form of influence is 20 and your score is indicated by the blue line.

Detailed results Influence profile

The twelve paragraphs below describe your scores. They are arranged according to the forms of influence from the Perspective Principle.

1. Paying attention and asking through

You don’t score as high on influencing with attention and questioning. That means there is still a lot of room to develop further and become more effective. It is very good that you filled out the scan really honestly and want to look at your possibilities. These could perhaps be in the area of personal contacts at work. You can investigate what happens to the depth of conversations when you ask about the deeper background of someone’s views. What does it take for you to take the time for that and to be interested in the other person’s story?
It could be that you find that work is not about personal contacts but is purely functional. That it’s about the content of your work and the results you achieve. But perhaps you can look at ways in which you can use personal attention to influence more effectively. Initially for the benefit of reaching the other person better and creating an open channel of communication. But secondarily also for creating a better working atmosphere and a sense that you are in it together.
Showing yourself more personally at work allows you to relax more and become more empowered. Do this step by step and slowly build personal connections.

2. Redefine words

In the precise use of words to achieve your goal, there may still be a small opportunity to develop. Perhaps you value authenticity or want to achieve your goals very quickly; these are very great qualities. In the area of connecting with someone else’s important words, perhaps there is an opportunity for you to become even more effective. Because people feel heard and understood when you use exactly the words that come from their hearts. You recognize the key words because they use them more often and there is an emotional charge around them. If you also use these words in your questions and summaries, the conversation will flow even better.
Choosing your words and sometimes deviating slightly to make room – you can become even more effective at that. If someone says that something is impossible, for example, you can ask what is not working so well right now. That way you create space. Just pay attention and practice connecting with key words and using gentle words to reach your goal!

3. Use the motivation

There is still an opportunity for you to develop in the area of motivation. You may be quick and focused on the content of an issue, which is very good. Yet you can take another step in this and it is not very difficult. You just have to take it upon yourself to discuss someone’s intention. Often that is not very difficult. And if you are a little off, this is not a big problem either. Because motivation is close to people’s hearts, they will gladly explain to you what is really important to them. This creates a connection on a deeper level than just the issue and the solution.
Maybe you can also take people a little more in your direction by starting with the Big Why (Sinek). People then better understand why it makes sense to listen to you and what’s in it for them. If you can align your goals with what they care about, they will embrace your direction more easily!

4. Convince with logic

The scan shows that you can improve your style of influencing a bit by using facts and logic more. Maybe you like it when others just see that your proposal is a good one and that they shouldn’t be difficult if you say it’s a good direction. But maybe you can help them see this a little more. You can do that, for example, by using more facts in your proposal. And if you don’t have the facts available, that you go and do your research first. Maybe you can look up or track data. If you have enough substantiation, use this in a focused way to prove, as it were, that your direction is the right one.

Sometimes it’s good not to express what you want to say right away, but first explain the context well. What is the bigger story, and why is it necessary to go in a certain direction? You will also learn that you can use graphs and tables to support your story. And that you can format this in an appropriate way so that it is clear to everyone that your proposal should be followed.

5. Lead to another meaning

In the area of steering toward a different meaning, there is still a little room for development. You may be someone who has a clear opinion about things, and that is certainly a quality! And in influencing, sometimes you can still achieve something if you can respond flexibly to a situation. By broadening your view and taking the other(s) to a different outcome or consequences. For example, by asking questions that explore other possibilities such as: “Suppose we do this, what does that mean for…?” For influencing through meaning, it is good to practice creatively inventing other outcomes of a difficult situation. At first, this may feel far-fetched or even untrue, but it can pay off handsomely in the long run!

6. Enlarge the framework

There may be some gold waiting for you in the area of choosing a different framework. You might want to experiment with framing at the beginning of a meeting and explore what it gives you. To do so, look more deeply into the Perspective Principle book and take the time to prepare for a meeting in which you are in charge. Because you probably have a strong focus on the content of your work and that’s very powerful. And you can lead others a little more by being clear about what people can expect. But even with people with opposing views, it can help tremendously if you become a little more flexible in choosing a different perspective to gain more space. For example, by placing the issue in the light of developments within the organization. Or by discussing what is a desired development in the coming months. In other words, broaden the framework and you invite others to talk further with more space.

7. Shift by storytelling

If you don’t use stories very often yet to influence others I would suggest you dive into this. It is especially effective when you encounter resistance from the other person and cannot say what you think right away. Because then the other person might well go further into resistance. But with an extended quote you can still make your point: you tell about someone else who knows yet another (intelligent) person who has done a lot of research into the issue and who has discovered that X, Y and Z holds true. You then don’t say it yourself but have someone else say it.

Maybe that’s hard for you because it’s at odds with the honesty you strive for. That really is a great thing, too. So look for stories that are true for you and that could help you move forward together. Stories that give space, use them!

8. Employing metaphors

If you don’t use metaphors often yet, an effective tool is still waiting for you. Perhaps you prefer to engage in direct discussion and are good at it. That’s very good. And when a discussion gets bogged down, you sometimes benefit from a metaphor. But you may have to push your creativity a little further for that. I’m sure you understand that sometimes it’s good to use a metaphor and to connect with the other person’s experience. On the website of the Perspective Principle you will find many exercises and tools to master this even better!

9. Work with the subconscious

You may like plain language and discussions about the functional content of an issue. That gets you pretty far but there is also room to become more effective. If you look at what is being used in neuromarketing to entice you to buy stuff. I’m not saying you should go all tricky because that may not fit your style. But you can consider little things that intuitively help. Like first starting a pleasant conversation with a warm cup of coffee. Or finding a pleasant environment for a deep conversation. Not sitting directly across from someone if you’re not looking for a confrontation. And using images to help your story land even with more visually oriented people. You might want to delve further into embedded commands and yes-set if you really want to make a move!

10. Push through with preponderance

You are still cautious about using dominance, and you may have good reasons for that. For example, because you dislike people who abuse their power. Or because you think it’s important that people are heard and you don’t want to force anything. These are fine qualities. Still, you may be able to take another step in this by studying how people act who use their power well. How examples from your environment deal with dominance and what you can learn from them. Perhaps you run up against all sorts of limiting thoughts and beliefs in your head that mean you will never be very dominant and push through something. Explore those limiting beliefs with the questions from part three of the Perspective Principle. Make space in your mind so that you can – if necessary in a situation – grab the space to be decisive.

It’s also good to look again at the overview of sources of power in Chapter 2.10 of the Perspective Principle. After all, you have more sources of influence than you might think. Perhaps practice again with the effective patterns from Kiesler’s pattern interruption. Then you will know even better how to deal with dominant people!

11. Make space by following

In the area of making space by following, you have an opportunity to develop further. This may be a strange way of influencing for you. For many effective people it is not natural to give space and let the other person fill it up. It’s probably from a great drive that you don’t do that automatically. But there is a lot of potential in this style: in this way you bridge a wait-and-see passive attitude that can arise when you initiate and lead too much. You can practice this by dropping silences after first asking a nice open question. Even if you get half an answer, you leave room for the other person to dig a little deeper and say more. This may take some time but it will pay off handsomely. It may also be that you are too impatient for this. That all kinds of judgments about the other person come to the surface that make you irritated. Look at those beliefs in a quiet moment and examine how you can bring space into them.

12. Influencing the force field

Influencing through the force field is not really your thing yet, there may still be an interesting area to develop for you. It’s about tactical maneuvering and exploring how to influence in a complex force field. Maybe you don’t think this is for you because you like to talk honestly and openly about an issue and not get involved in political stuff. That is a fine quality and it would be nice if all people were like that. It gets you far if you do your work with integrity. You certainly shouldn’t let that go either. But it would be nice if you examined what interests important people around you actually have. What drives them and what do they want to achieve? Surely there is often a positive intention underneath. Take an issue at hand and do a force field analysis as described in the Perspective Principle. That can give you a lot!

If you are experiencing too much resistance in yourself to explore this, examine the underlying beliefs. Take the questions from part three of the Perspective Principle and see if you can make space in your ideas about influencing through the force field.  

Personal development

To further develop your style of influencing, I invite you to participate in our Perspective Essential workshop. This is a great one-day workshop in which you will learn the essentials of a good influencing conversation.

If you prefer to engage in development from your workplace or at home, we offer online e-learning modules. In these you will find – per form of influence – all kinds of videos, exercises and background articles to get started independently.

Finally, you can also request help from one of the Perspective Principle coaches who can support you in your development and help you become even more effective. Especially if you experience blockages in your development and want to look at the backgrounds and limiting beliefs, this is a very good choice.

By completing the influence profile, you have taken the first step toward many opportunities and personal development. I wish you good luck with the next step!