Allocating influence space
Who do you allow to influence you?
The saying goes, don’t listen to criticisms from someone whose opinion you don’t value. Easier said than done.
There’s a concept of “decision space” — who in a company do you empower to make decisions, and about what? Graham Duncan allocates decision space to someone based on his or her credibility using the following formula:
Credibility = Proven Confidence + Relationships + Integrity
But what about “influence space”?
We each have a personal sphere of influence. Some peoples’ words penetrate, and we really hear them. But others don’t.
It’s useful to consider whose ideas, and ideas about what, you let influence you. Intentionally allocating influence space protects your mindset.
For instance, you might value your manager’s ideas about how to solve a specific problem, but don’t subscribe to his views on raising kids. With someone else, you might have built up a lot of trust and respect how they think, so you’re more open to being influenced by their ideas in areas that feel vulnerable to you — where you doubt yourself or feel scared.