Influencing Leaders

Praise for Influencing Leaders “I was introduced to Jim in the middle of an especially complicated multi-year public relations and crisis management project. From the first day we started talking, Jim was able to reliably tell us in advance how our critics would think and react to our every move. Jim is a master communication advisor. More importantly, Jim offered us practical, consistent, substantive (and sometimes hard) advice to earn and recover the trust needed to successfully run our business for the long term.” —SANDY DEAN, Founder, Sansome Partners “Jim Lukaszewski and Helio Fred Garcia are leaders in the fields of leadership development, executive communication, and crisis management. For decades, the U.S. Marine Corps has trusted them to train generations of senior Marine leaders in effective communication. Jim and Fred have taught successive groups of Marine leaders over the course of 22 and 34 years, respectively. That tenure demonstrates the value the Marine Corps placed on the need to develop deep communication skills and practices amongst their most senior leaders, and the unique expertise Messrs. Lukaszewski and Garcia brought to those efforts.” —DAVID LAPAN, Retired Marine Corps Col. “Influencing Leaders should be required reading in any business school curriculum. Its lessons are indispensable for the executive who seeks to address complex challenges from a pragmatic, principled foundation.” —STANLEY RAGGIO, Former EVP, Global Supply Chain, Gap Inc. “When I joined the Public & Government Affairs staff of a multinational tech company, crisis communications was still an emerging discipline. Jim brought his rare gift for helping leaders see around corners. His counsel then—and his books now—blend thought leadership, strategic clarity, and practical, real-world guidance leaders can use immediately.” —SARAH VANDER ZANDEN, Senior Executive Leadership Coach “Jim Lukaszewski has been an extraordinary mentor. I was consistently struck by his ability to quickly grasp the complex issues of reputation risk and crisis management facing leaders of major corporations. Through our work together, I witnessed firsthand his mastery in guiding CEOs through crises—helping them craft and execute thoughtful, effective strategies under intense pressure. Jim taught me what it truly means to be a trusted counselor to executives navigating their most challenging moments.” —MJ WATERS, APR, CPRC Transform yourself from a trusted strategic advisor to a trusted strategic influencer. Become the advisor/influencer leaders rely on for strategic clarity and trusted counsel. Executives face relentless pressure, ambiguity, and isolation, requiring advisors who deliver actionable counsel. In Influencing Leaders, James E. Lukaszewski and Helio Fred Garcia provide the proven framework for becoming a trusted strategic influencer partner that leaders turn to when facing critical decisions. The book presents seven essential disciplines: establishing trustworthiness, mastering verbal influence, developing management perspective, thinking strategically, recognizing patterns, structuring constructive advice, and teaching leaders to apply counsel effectively. Practical tools include the Three-Minute Drill, Five Imperatives for Advisors/Influencers, Pattern Recognition techniques, and assessments for developing capabilities. Readers will also find: The five components of trust and ten ways advisors commonly lose it, providing a clear roadmap for building and maintaining credibility with executives Frameworks for structuring advice that's clear, actionable, and strategically relevant Pattern recognition techniques that enable advisors and influencers to forecast future challenges by identifying recurring organizational and market dynamics Methods for developing a management perspective that allows advisors and influencers to see the world through the leader's eyes and understand executive priorities Communication strategies for delivering counsel with the clarity, brevity, and impact that time-pressured executives require Influencing Leaders: The Seven Disciplines of the Trusted Strategic Advisor is perfect for mid-career professionals, external consultants, and anyone aspiring to influence organizational leaders. Influencing Leaders demonstrates that true influence is about mastering the disciplines of foresight, strategic thinking, and trust that make trusted strategic advisors and influencers essential to leaders making their most challenging decisions. Becoming a trusted strategic advisor and influencer is a personal journey that requires discipline, self-reflection, and a commitment to serving leaders effectively. By mastering the seven disciplines and adopting a strategic mindset, advisors and influencers can achieve the six aspirations common among all trusted strategic advisors and influencers: acceptance, access, impact, inclusion, influence, and respect, all crucial to the leaders they serve. Ultimately, the strategic influencer brings integrity based on truth and trust to everything they do.

Pages: 240, Edition: 2, Hardcover, Wiley