Exercising Influence® – Building Relationships and Getting Results

Today’s organizations run on influence. Influence enables you to build the relationships you need to get results inside or outside the formal power structure. To be successful in busy cross-functional organizations, you need to be skillful and flexible in the way you influence others.

This accelerated learning program uses “fitness model” to help develop strength, focus, and flexibility as an influencer. Feedback – gathered before, during and after the program – provides valuable insights into individual strengths and learning needs. Learn new skills as you work on real-world business situations. Through a series of exercises, learn how to plan and prepare for important influence opportunities up, down, across, and outside your organization. Exercising Influence^® is a just-in-time learning opportunity, enabling immediate application of new skills to resolve problems and conflicts and achieve outstanding business results.

This course has been recognized by FindCourses.com as one of the "Top 10 Sales Training Courses for 2022".

Learning Objectives

Participants will gain practical skills to:

Use influence models to help them develop effective influence behaviors and a strategic and tactical approach to influence.
Evaluate how they currently use influence behaviors and identify areas for development.
Develop and practice a variety of influence behaviors which they have identified as important to achieving successful results.
Establish clear and powerful influence goals.
Design and approach for formal and informal influence situations; apply the approach to a real-life situation.

Who Should Attend

Individuals who want to improve their influence skills can benefit from attending this program. This program is especially valuable to project leaders, managers, executives, and individuals responsible for implementing change.

Prerequisite

None

Materials

The course binder contains presentation content, case studies, exercises, and suggested solutions.

What You Will Learn

The Nature of Influence

Introduction to key definitions and concepts; identification of real influence opportunities for later practice.

Influence Framework

Analysis of the “big picture” affecting influence success.

Model Overview

Benchmark exercise; review and practice sessions introducing the tactics and behaviour model.

Assessments

Review of feedback and development of individual learning goals.

Isometrics

Focused practice on specific behaviours with targeted feedback.

Influence Goals and Approach

Introduction to planning for influence results.

Behaviour Workouts

Planning and interactive practice and feedback in realistic situations.

Planning an Influence Approach

Full planning process for an important upcoming influence opportunity.

Maintaining and Improving Influence Fitness

Learning summary, applications, and follow-up recommendations.

TESTIMONIALS

"Exercising Influence is an engaging, practical, and evidence-based program that increases your capacity to affect the actions of others. Whether you're a new or..." See more

"Exercising Influence is an engaging, practical, and evidence-based program that increases your capacity to affect the actions of others. Whether you're a new or an experienced leader, you’ll benefit greatly from the program. It’s one of the best programs on the market." See less

Jim Kouzes

Author of the best-selling book The Leadership Challenge
"The program has survived at my organization for more than 15 years. A learner walks out of the classroom with skills they can apply in their very next influence..." See more

"The program has survived at my organization for more than 15 years. A learner walks out of the classroom with skills they can apply in their very next influence conversation." See less

Anonymous VP of Leadership & Management Development

Global Financial Services Company
"I highly recommend Exercising Influence. It’s an outstanding program on the complex topic of influence. We have used the program in open session format as wel..." See more

"I highly recommend Exercising Influence. It’s an outstanding program on the complex topic of influence. We have used the program in open session format as well as with intact teams, both with excellent results. The program has high applicability for many audiences." See less

Anonymous VP of HR

Global Aerospace Company
"I got so much value out of the Exercising Influence class that I did it twice. The second time was just prior to negotiating a job offer. The class did a great ..." See more

"I got so much value out of the Exercising Influence class that I did it twice. The second time was just prior to negotiating a job offer. The class did a great job of explaining what influence is and what strategies are available. I loved that I came in with a survey filled out by my peers that helped me see which of my strategies could use the most development so I could focus on those in class. I got to role play my upcoming job negotiation with a classmate and practice my technique. When I went in for the meeting a few days later, I was able to co-create an opportunity that became a very exciting career step. I still see my room for growth, but now I know how to grow!" See less

Rona Kremer

Diversity & Inclusion Program Manager
"A great program offering a model and practical skills, knowledge, and exercises that are easily applied and implemented on the job and in life."

Anonymous

Director of HR for a tech company
"I continue to use this outstanding program and related materials to help execute complex projects involving numerous stakeholders and geographies three years af..." See more

"I continue to use this outstanding program and related materials to help execute complex projects involving numerous stakeholders and geographies three years after taking the course. The instructional materials and classroom exercises are both well-designed and focused on real skill-building." See less

Anonymous

Knowledge Manager

COURSE INFO

Course ID: BC-8000

Course Level: Beginner

Duration: 1 Day

UPCOMING SESSIONS

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Begins April 8, 2026
Instructor(s): TBD
Starts in 70 days
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Begins June 24, 2026
Instructor(s): Carroll Blair
Starts in 147 days
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Begins October 20, 2026
Instructor(s): Rickey-Dean Wasson
Starts in 265 days
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PMI PDU BREAKDOWN

The following table provides the breakdown of the professional development units (PDUs) for this course aligned with the PMI Talent Triangle^TM.

	WoW	PS	BA
PMP	0	7	0
PgMP	0	7	0
PfMP	0	7	0
PMI-ACP	0	7	0
PMI-SP	0	7	0
PMI-RMP	0	7	0
PMI-PBA	0	7	0

The three columns in the above table are Ways of Working, Power Skills & Business Acumen.

Other Credits

Other professional (re)certification credits are available, including:

Certified Business Analyst Professionals (CBAPs) earn 7 CDUs (Category 2B)
Certified Software Quality Engineers (CSQEs) earn 1 RU
CIPS Information Systems Professionals (ISPs) earn 7 Learning Credits
CIPS Information Technology Certified Professional (ITCPs) earn 7 Learning Credits