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No matter who you are, or what you’re doing, it’s time your organization took a look in the mirror. There are more than 1.5 million nonprofit organizations operating in the U.S. today. As staggering as this number is, it ignores the innumerable PTA’s, neighborhood groups, recreation committees and other ‘off-the-books’ type associations that we parents are most likely to be involved in. Amongst this vast and diverse group of formal and informal organizations, there exists a common -and sometimes crippling- identity crisis. Many of these groups don’t know who they are.

Every group needs to embrace and project a well-defined set of attributes. It’s members, and the bystanders with whom the group may interact, need to have a clear understanding of the association’s ideals, motives and behavioral characteristics. Without this forethought, the group will be handicapped from the start. High turnover, fluctuating commitment and disproportionate efforts will surely characterize the membership. Without a well-developed group identity, some team members quickly find themselves tired, disappointed or disillusioned. Innovation and quality will be sacrificed for convenience. Ideas will fail for lack of follow-through, and team morale will quickly become a figment of the organization’s past.

“No matter what your cause, there exists an inventory of people waiting to work with you. They just don’t know it yet. Make a commitment, to earn their commitment.” – Author’s Note

Most of our organizations are hastily brought together, and tentatively held together, by a small impassioned group. We call this “the committed core.” Though the term sounds kind of neat, we need to do whatever we can to avoid it. For while its true that short-term collaborations can subsist on personal friendships and individual efforts, none can survive this way, much less thrive this way. Intense individual efforts limit the breadth and longevity of a group’s effectiveness. What we need instead, is steady collaborative progress accomplished through a well-proportioned delegation of responsibilities. In order for this to happen, there must be a strong group identity. This identity is what draws other members into the group, and secures their commitment to common goals, principals and beliefs.

Short-term affiliates and exploratory new memberships are the fast food meals of the organizational realm. You’ll see these people float in and out of your ranks. While this kind of help can get things done, it doesn’t necessarily translate into “progress” for your organization. If you want your group to grow, and your efforts to be reinvested, you’ll need to fill your ranks with assets that are committed to the advancement of your association. If you want to know which type of membership you currently have, try this quick test. Walk into your next meeting and pose the question, “Who are we?“. Not “What do we do?”, or “Why are we here?”; as those answers are self-evident. Instead, you want to know:

1. What are our core values?
2. Where does our compass point?
3. What do we want others to know about us?
4. Why would people want to join us?

When you do this, you’re guaranteed to get a few weird looks, and at least as many different answers. If you press the discussion just a bit, you’ll be surprised to find how many people have been sitting next to you, or working alongside you, without a clear reason ‘why’. Worse yet, without a definitive and conspicuous group identity, you’re guaranteed to find some team members with an ambiguous or subjective view that is out of whack, or even contrary to the group’s intended purpose. Neither of these circumstances are tolerable.

So it’s time to get specific with your membership, and craft your group’s public persona. Be ready for resistance. Some groups purposely avoid creating a clear and deliberate profile. Sometimes this is due to a lack of vision. Other times, it is because group leaders fear that the organization will appear exclusive, and in so doing, limit their prospective membership. In practice though, the opposite it true. The more clearly you describe your group, the more alluring you make it for those who hold similar attributes. In marketing, this is referred to as a ‘targeted audience’. And just as decades of advertising experience has taught us, the more directly you target your audience, the more productive your pitch. So even if half as many people show up to your meetings, you can rest easy knowing that those who do, will be twice as motivated, committed and productive.

Setting Your Identity

A strong group identity will transcend the individual personalities of your team members. It will infuse your efforts with clear and present meaning. What’s more, it will serve as a powerful beacon for those who may want to collaborate with you.

Developing this identity isn’t hard. Start with 3 to 5 Core Values or behavior characteristics (ex. Courage, Innovation, Credibility, Compromise). Articulate your Motivation and set your group’s Compass. Determine how you will incorporate, or express, these elements in your efforts. Lastly, discuss how you might Transform others from bystanders, into team members. This can be done on a single sheet of paper, in as little as thirty minutes. Once refined, it should be reiterated as often as possible, and relied upon to guide your group’s behavior.

Remember, no matter what your cause, there exists a vast inventory of dormant supporters; people who are ready to work with you, but don’t know it yet. Your group identity will be the spark that ignites their effort. Make a comittment to earn their comittment. If this is the only thing you do at your next meeting, it may just be the most productive meeting you’ve ever had.

In Part I of this series, Got Influence? we described the subtle, yet vital role played by a person or organization’s level of influence. Aided by the benefit of influence, a person or entity can quickly achieve the momentum they need to effectively accomplish their goals. Without it, though, you will be forced to do things the old fashioned way, the hard way. This will cost you valuable resources, forestall the accomplishment of your goals and limit the breadth of your success.

Truth be told, work without influence is only “old fashioned” to those who have recently come to understand the tremendous role played by this often-unseen force. It’s impact is both ancient and omnipresent, but until you incorporate it into some aspect of your strategic mindset, you may as well be laboring in the stone age. The most successful and productive people have learned to use their personal connections to amplify, multiply and emulsify their efforts. In so doing, every step forward becomes a leap. Every door opened, unlocks three more. Each successive project becomes less cumbersome than the prior.

“People without influence expend too much energy jumping through hoops, wrestling with bureaucracy, negotiating with lower management and commiserating with others in the same position.” – Author’s Note

One way to look at influence is as an ever-expanding, interwoven network of reciprocal favors; a barter system. The goal of the game is to take whatever resources you have control over, and market them to people who may someday be in a position to return the favor. Though not all enter this game on equal footing, the fact is that we all have resources to leverage.

If you’ve got millions of dollars, you’ll invest in the right campaign contributions, you’ll donate to charities run by the right people, you’ll lubricate business deals with the right companies and you’ll socialize in circles which are well-traveled by people pursuing the exact same strategy. With each step, your influence will grow exponentially.

Granted, not everyone has tons of money (and we’re going to overlook some of the means frequently used by those who don’t), but there are plenty of legitimate ways for the common man or woman to build influence. Start by outlining what sphere you hope to gain influence in. Identify the people who occupy the executive positions in that sphere, and begin working your way towards them. Make yourself relevant to them. Invest your efforts in their efforts. Insert yourself into the peripheral of their social circle. Find out what interests them, and determine how to become a resource, or develop a reputation, in that area.

Find a way to become a social, professional, legal, or philanthropic asset to them, and make sure they know it. If you can’t reach them, start with their friends, family or colleagues. Better yet, start with someone above them. View your development of influence as a ladder. The higher you go up the executive ladder, and the closer you get to the shot-caller themselves, the more power and scope your influence will have.

The goal of influence isn’t to control everything, but to gain preferred access to it. People with influence solve most of their problems with a phone call. People without influence expend much of their energy jumping through hoops, wrestling with bureaucracy, negotiating with lower management and commiserating with others in the same position. They become frustrated and tired.

Those last two sentences should stick in your head. For as natural as these observations will seem to some, I know that others amongst us find this subject uncomfortable; maybe even unethical. To be honest, I still find myself in this category. But no successful person has ever benefited from naivete. Adhere to your values. Stay true to your principals. Conduct yourself with honor, but don’t forfeit another ounce of your effort to ignorance. Somewhere, right now, another person or organization is out there investing in their influence. Don’t let them pass you by.

Read Part I of this Series: Got Influence? by Timothy Shoemaker