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Business Rule #18:
Use Influence to Lead
February 18, 2005
(PAGE 2 of 2)
Losing your cool doesn't work either. Project manager Bren Olswanger actually yells at his complaining team members. Gone is the Southern charm. Gone, the gracious apologizer. In their place, we have a manager who asks three people to escort cheeseburgers from one burg to another. Poor decision-making doesn't influence others either—at least not positively.
By contrast, Tana Goertz could not contain her enthusiasm. She had the "fire in the belly" that inspires. No doubt about it: enthusiasm sells. It also influences others. Tana listened to her team and applauded their efforts. She expressed confidence. If Michael lives somewhere off in Michael Land, Tana lives right here in Team Land. She demonstrated her leadership as the Street Smarties won yet again. They turned their casting-couch-on-wheels into a vehicle for wheeler-dealers. You saw the deals being made before your very eyes: actors left the Airstream with actual work!
Complaining also doesn't work as a positive influence tool. Stephanie Myers complained her way straight into the boardroom. It almost led her right out of the building and into a yellow cab. George Ross described her negativity as "unforgivable;” it brought the team down, he asserted. Bren chooses to take her and Michael into the boardroom and tells Trump how Stephanie likes to list all of the things he did wrong but never took a proactive step to right the wrongs. Even though he admits she worked hard, he still goes after her and urges Trump to fire her over Michael.
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Michael makes the big mistake of interrupting Bren's tongue-lashing…making Trump turn against him. He can’t believe Michael is so stupid as to draw the fire away from Stephanie and back on himself. Poor judgment does Michael in. His arguments against Bren certainly don't influence Trump in the way he intended. Trump, who originally seemed to be leaning toward firing Stephanie, fires Michael instead.
Or maybe it isn't Michael's poor judgment. Maybe it’s his insistence on proclaiming he’s just like Trump. The Donald retorts, "You claim to be like me? You're lazy."
Either way, Michael had no influence and is back out on the street.
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No doubt about it: enthusiasm sells. It also influences
