Influencing partners or senior people – part 1
Many people in law firms ask how they can influence partners. This can include lawyers as well as business services. And principles here apply to influencing senior people generally. The importance of partners in driving your project through cannot be understated, so this is the first in a series of posts on how to influence partners.
The first step is to stop thinking about your project or your point of view on a matter. For a while forget about your point of view.
Take a look at the partner you want to influence and describe them. Describe their narrative within the firm; what do they tend to drive or take leadership on, what do they tend to support and what do they tend to lack enthusiasm for? What is important in their practice area? We’ll go further on these questions in future posts. Next look at what they are trying to achieve within the context of the firm’s objectives. Where are they and their team going? Next try to identify their hot buttons that is, what things about the firm rouse their passion or their drive? Again we’ll go further on hot buttons in future posts.
Now that you have immersed yourself in their view of things, go back to your argument or project and put it into their context. How does it look? Does it seem important or even relevant? So now look again and see if you can reposition your project or opinion in such a way that it appears interesting and of benefit to your target partner. In what way can you position your project so that they will see it as first relevant and second of benefit? When you position things within their narrative they will understand you faster and see the benefits sooner.