Guides
Learning Plan or PIP? A Manager's Comparison for Employee Growth
Learning plan vs performance improvement plan: a comparison for US managers, covering criteria, timelines and the consequence that separates the two.
Section
Guides
Guides
Coalition influence in US cities: reading where power actually sits
How coalition influence differs across US metros: charters, statehouse preemption, business improvement districts and union density, plus where to start.
Guides
Executive presence vs leadership presence: a 90-day test
Test executive presence against leadership presence over 90 days: three countable behaviors, a peer group and an evidence log a promotion panel can check.
Guides
Executive presence and leadership presence: definitions, signals and what to build first
Explains executive presence and leadership presence, how US and Canadian panels read each, the signals that predict trust, and practical steps to build one first.
Guides
Leadership influence in Chicago: four seats of city power
Leadership influence in Chicago: a map of four civic power centers—the mayor’s office, City Council, civic and business groups, and neighborhood networks.
Guides
Leadership influence in Washington, D.C.: calendars, first drafts and coalitions
A guide to leadership influence in Washington, D.C., covering Congress, agencies, associations and think tanks through calendars, first drafts and coalitions.
Guides
Leadership negotiation influence in New York City: where power actually sits
A street level map of power in New York City: City Hall, Albany, borough machines, real estate, finance, unions and media, and the negotiation each one rewards.
Guides
Working across cultures compared: what changes and what does not
Influence across cultures techniques for working at a distance: the written confirmation, the named-person question, the interpreter brief and the rota.
Guides
Performance management: diagnosing five causes of a shortfall before you respond
A diagnostic guide to performance shortfalls: five causes, how to tell them apart, what the wrong response costs, and when to involve HR before formal steps.
Guides
Which negotiation mistakes quietly turn persuasion into pressure?
Negotiation mistakes that quietly turn persuasion into pressure, what each one teaches the other side, and the version of the same move that holds.
Guides
Control or influence in leadership: how to tell the honest instrument from the abuse
Control and influence in leadership: when using authority openly is the honest move, when steering by hint abuses the position, and how to tell them apart.
Guides
How Canadian leaders negotiate cross-border deals under CUSMA, tariffs and currency
Canadian leaders price tariffs, currency swings and CUSMA rules of origin into every US deal term, from the first mandate through to final signature.
Guides
How to build influence in Ottawa's federal public service without line authority
Federal influence in Ottawa runs on evidence, timing and rules literacy rather than line authority. Here is how to build it one memorandum at a time.
Guides
Negotiating in Quebec, civil law, French-language norms and the Charter of the French Language
Negotiating in Quebec turns on civil law contracts, Charter language duties and two distinct bargaining cultures in Montreal and Quebec City.
Guides
Remote and hybrid influence across Canadian time zones, from St. John's to Vancouver
Leading a Canadian team from St. John's to Vancouver means protecting a four-hour overlap, rotating the awkward slot, and writing decisions down.
Guides
How to use Statistics Canada labour data to strengthen your negotiation case
Statistics Canada negotiation data anchors a bargaining case when you pull the right Labour Force Survey and Workplace Employee Survey series cleanly.
Guides
Positive Influence Meaning: A Definition, Four Tests and Workplace Examples
Positive influence means guiding someone toward their own good with methods they can see, and leaving them free to refuse. A definition, four tests and workplace examples.
Guides
Workplace coalition for change without formal power: what works and when to stop
Workplace coalition for change without budget or authority: dated commitments, exchange before asking, compromise rules, and a week-12 stop threshold.
Guides
Collaborative vs Competitive Negotiation: Which Leadership Style Gets Better Deals?
Collaborative vs competitive negotiation leadership: which style wins depends on the deal. A criteria table shows where each one fits and what neither fixes.
Guides
Executive Presence vs Leadership Presence: Which Matters More Now?
Executive presence vs leadership presence: what each measures, how US promotion panels read them, and which to build first for your next role.
Guides
How to Influence a Remote Team Without Authority in a Hybrid US Workplace
How to influence a remote team without authority: a staged rollout for US hybrid teams, with timings, blockers and the failure mode that hides.
Guides
Which Leadership Influence Metrics Actually Matter in US Companies?
Leadership influence metrics to track: decision adoption rate, a 40% action floor, and the outcome the numbers cannot show. Use them per quarter.
Guides
Leadership Job Offer Salary Negotiation: Why Order Matters
Leadership job offer salary negotiation works in sequence: read the offer, clarify terms, build a case, make one ask, and confirm changes in writing.
Guides
Fifteen negotiation moments compared: which ones you can call a negotiation
Negotiation examples: fifteen from work and home, twelve of them with people you meet again, and what each one is really trading underneath.
Guides
Influence without authority books: a twenty-minute test before buying
Six influence without authority books worth your money, plus a twenty-minute test that tells you whether any of them fits the problem you actually have.
Guides
How to resolve a workplace conflict: cold disputes and the four rungs
Decide whether you are a party or a referee, surface a cold dispute, and work the four rungs from agreement to a clear disagreement, then check it held.
![U.S. Secretary of State relaxes in a meeting room between bilateral discussions at a NATO summit meeting in Brussels, Belgium, April 23, 2013. [State Department photo/ Public Domain]. Leadership influence techniques from the ground up](/covers/leadership-influence-techniques-640.webp?v=25724922)
Guides
Leadership influence techniques from the ground up
Leadership influence techniques tied to the moments they belong to: every decision, every meeting, every handover, every week, and every quarter.
Guides
Influence without authority: what you can trade, and when to stop asking
Influence without authority is a queue problem, not a rapport problem: what you can trade, how to size the ask, and how to know when to stop asking.