In the workplace today, if you want to advance your ideas and your career, it’s not just about how hard you work or how well you perform, though those matter. It’s about your ability to shape perceptions, build alliances, and move others to act. For women, especially in environments still shaped by patriarchal norms, building influence is not only strategic, it’s essential.
But influence is often misunderstood. It isn’t manipulation. It isn’t domination. It’s the ability to affect outcomes through persuasion, connection, trust, and visibility. And while traditional notions of influence in the workplace tend to skew masculine, assertiveness, control, command, women have distinct, often undervalued qualities that can serve as powerful influence tools when consciously and strategically leveraged.
What’s influence? It’s the capacity to have an effect on the character, development, or behavior of someone or something.
In the workplace, it manifests in how you:
- Persuade colleagues and decision-makers
- Advocate for yourself and others
- Sell your ideas effectively
- Gain trust and credibility
- Lead change, formally or informally
According to leadership expert Dr. Robert Cialdini, the six principles of influence are: reciprocity, commitment and consistency, social proof, authority, liking, and scarcity. These principles are neutral, but how they’re used often differs by gender, as do the workplace consequences of using them.
Why influence matters for women
Women often face barriers to leadership and advancement that men do not. The “likability penalty” (where assertive women are seen as competent but unlikable), unconscious bias, exclusion from informal power networks, and societal expectations all limit traditional routes to career success. We’re familiar with all of them!
As a result, influence becomes a critical tool. Unlike power that is granted by title or hierarchy, influence is cultivated. It can be built laterally or even from the margins. For women, this means influence offers a workaround to gatekeeping, allowing them to rise and lead without waiting for permission.
Read the full article on Substack.com
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