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Baker's 4 Strategies of Influence

Using Logic and Emotion to Change People's Thinking

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Are you a logical or an emotional influencer?

How do you influence others?

African-American rights campaigner Dr Martin Luther King Jnr moved a generation of people with his great speech, "I have a dream... " And British prime minister Margaret Thatcher was well known for her rousing calls to action, too. But, according to leadership development and change management consultant Dr Tim Baker, one of these people is a "motivating" influencer and the other is a "calculating" influencer. Can you guess which one is which?

"Influence" is defined by the Merriam-Webster dictionary as "the power to cause changes without directly forcing them to happen." Dr Baker expands on this in his book, The New Influencing Toolkit. He says that influence is about persuading people to think and act differently, in ways that benefit themselves, their manager, their organization, and, ultimately, their customer. It doesn't mean manipulation or trickery. Influence, in Dr Baker's view, must be done ethically.

What Are the 4 Strategies of Influence?

Dr Baker's influencing framework, shown in figure 1 below, describes four strategies of influence: Investigation, Calculation, Motivation, and Collaboration. Each of these combines either a Push or a Pull style with either a Logical or an Emotional approach.

A Push style is a direct, assertive way of getting your point across, while a Pull style is an indirect, subtle way of persuading others. And to influence Logically, you'll use facts and rational argument to make your case, while, with the Emotional approach, you "tug at people's heartstrings” to get your way.

Each of these strategies can be highly effective in the right circumstances. ...