PPP 028 | Influence Without Authority Scenarios, Part 2

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Published: Tuesday, 20 April 2010 12:59

Written by Andy Kaufman

It's one thing to know there's a model for influencing without authority. But how do we implement that model, as leaders and project managers? That's what we tackle in this second part of my interview with Dr. Allan Cohen, author of Influence Without Authority.

I recommend you check out the accompanying website for Dr. Cohen's book, which you can find at www.influencewithoutauthority.com.

Are you interested in learning how to develop your influence skills? How about your team's ability to influence? Give us a call to learn how we can help you become more influential, even in situations you don't have authority.

Please join me in the next episode when I’m joined by Clint Padgett, President and CEO of Project Success Inc, and author of The Project Success Method: A Proven Approach for Achieving Superior Project Performance in as Little as 5 Days.

Thanks for joining us for this episode! Have a great week!

Duration 19:37

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PPP 027 | How to Influence Without Authority, an interview with author Dr. Allan Cohen

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Published: Tuesday, 20 April 2010 12:48

Written by Andy Kaufman

Episode Duration 29:53

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One of my leadership heroes is Ken Blanchard, who is on record of saying, "The key to successful leadership today is influence, not authority.”

I wholeheartedly agree with Ken, that developing your influence skills is critical to success in today’s business environment, especially when a growing number of project managers and other leaders have an increasing amount of responsibility but not necessarily a corresponding amount of authority to go with it.

Many listening to this cast are in positions where they have to influence without authority and to help us improve our skills in that area I got in touch with the author of one my favorite books on the topic, Dr Allan Cohen, who wrote Influence Without Authority.

In this cast we walk through the influence model that Allan developed with Stanford professor Dr. David Bradford. In the follow-up cast I have Allan walk through a couple specific scenarios relevant to our audience, to apply the model in practical ways.

You'll notice part way through the cast that our recording system introduced some background interference due to a technical issue that occurred during my discussion with Dr. Cohen. I apologize for the annoyance, trusting you'll glean many lessons from the interview despite the distraction.

I recommend you check out the accompanying website for Dr. Cohen's book, which you can find at www.influencewithoutauthority.com. Please join me in the next episode when Dr. Cohen applies his influence model to two specific scenarios that I’m confident you’ll find relevant to your role.

And, one last thing! Would you take a moment to let a friend or colleague know about The People and Projects Podcast? I’d love to pour into them as well, to help them lead people and deliver projects.

Thanks for joining us for this episode! Have a great week!

PPP 026 | How to Offer, Give, and Receive Help. Part 2 of an Interview with Dr. Ed Schein

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Published: Thursday, 08 April 2010 09:57

Written by Andy Kaufman

Total Duration: 21:17

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In our last episode, I started an interview with Dr. Ed Schein, Sloan Fellows Professor of Management Emeritus at MIT and author of fourteen business books, including The Corporate Culture Survival Guide. Make sure to listen to that episode if you happened to miss it.

In this second part of the interview, we turn our attention to Ed's seminal yet highly practical book entitled Helping: How to Offer, Give, and Receive Help. Ever wonder why some people find it difficult to ask for help, even when they are "spinning their wheels" with the project tasks? Or why some people just won't take you up on offers to help, even when it's desperately needed?

In this interview, Ed helps us understand the surprisingly complex dynamics around giving and receiving help. I strongly recommend you get a copy of Ed's books we discuss in these two episodes.

Thanks for joining us for this episode! Have a great week!

PPP 025 | Corporate Culture Survival, with Sloan Fellows Professor of Management Emeritus, Dr. Ed Schein

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Published: Sunday, 28 March 2010 02:10

Written by Andy Kaufman

Total Duration: 24:19

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It happens regularly... my phone rings, I pick it up, and on the other end I'm talking with someone who's inquiring about bringing us in to deliver a keynote for a company event or training for their organization.

My first response is not whether I'm available on the dates they're looking for. My first questions are designed to help me understand the problems they're trying to solve. Once I have a good sense of the issues they want to address, I inevitably ask a critical, open-ended question: "Tell me about the culture of your organization?"

How would you respond to that question? How would you describe your company's culture? Or the culture of your team? How about the project culture at your company--how things get done?

This is what I've found: understanding organizational culture is critical to being able to deliver projects and lead teams. If I don't have a decent idea of the culture I'm walking into for a keynote, workshop, or coaching session, I flat out won't be effective. It would be like walking in and finding that everyone speaks a foreign language.

Dr. Ed Schein is a world-renowned MIT professor and expert on organizational culture, and has authored fourteen business books, including The Corporate Culture Survival Guide. When it comes to knowing how to get things done in a company, Ed is one of my heroes, so I was very excited to have the opportunity to speak with him recently.

This episode contains the first part of my discussion with Dr. Schein, with the remaining to be included in the next cast.

See Part 2 of my interview with Dr. Schein will focus on his book Helping: How to Offer, Give, and Receive Help.

Thank you for joining us for this episode of the People and Projects Podcast! Have a great week!

PPP 024 | PDUs for PMPs, with guest Cornelius Fichtner, PMP

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Published: Wednesday, 03 March 2010 08:57

Written by Andy Kaufman

Total Duration 23:57

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I love helping project managers get their PMP®certification. For those of you who have completed that journey, you know it's a lot of work! There are plenty of you listening who have been putting it off and would benefit from taking action on that this year.

But what about once you get the certification? You enthusiastically cross the finish line and are awarded with... the need to get PDU's to retain your certification!

If you have a plan, getting your required continuing education credits is not that big of a challenge. But waiting until the end of your three year term is not a good plan.

This cast is to help you put together a plan to get those PDU's, and you'll hear from the one and only Cornelius Fichtner, host of The Project Management Podcast. Cornelius will tell you about his favorite ways to get PDU's, including a new offering he's rolling out soon called The PDU Podcast.

Click here to learn more about The PDU Podcast (or go to http://nanacast.com/vp/107168/81275/).

And, hey, for those of you who have been putting off getting your certification, give me a call! If you're in the Chicago area I have a PMP®Prep workshop on some selected Saturdays over the next two months. As of the recording date, there are still 3 slots open. You can reach me toll-free at 866-884-5323.

If you can't attend the class, here's another idea! One of my favorite recommendations for helping aspiring project managers to get their certification is The PMP®PrepCast, also from our friend Cornelius. It's one of the best values for the dollar to help you pass the exam. You can find the PMP®PrepCast here.

Thanks for joining us for this episode of The People and Projects Podcast! Have a great week!