3 Tips for Harnessing Your Influence

Oct 15

"The number one predictor of change is not the person—it’s the situation." – Joseph Grenny, Crucial Influence

In academic pharmacy, we often ask: How can we get faculty more engaged? How can we help students succeed? How can we ensure our teams embrace change? The problem isn’t usually motivation—it’s influence.

Joseph Grenny’s Crucial Influence reminds us that lasting change doesn’t come from willpower alone. It comes from shaping the multiple forces that drive human behavior. Grenny provides a practical framework leaders and faculty can use to create conditions where positive behaviors become natural, repeatable, and sustainable.

Here are three tips you can use to harness your influence and achieve next-level results.

1. Personal Motivation & Ability: Connect to Purpose

Key Idea: People change when they see why is matters to them personally. Also, motivation without ability leads to frustration.

Faculty and students engage more deeply when they understand how their work connects to values, identity, and impact. This “why” can influence movement forward. No amount of motivation will sustain change without investment in developing skills or tools.

Try This:

Share stories that connect faculty contributions to a “why” such as student success or patient outcomes.
Ask: “What part of this work feels most meaningful to you?”
Pair faculty with others who model the key attributes being developed.

Example:
Instead of saying, “We need to improve exam pass rates,” connect it to purpose: “Your teaching directly shapes the next generation of pharmacists serving our communities.” Then, coach the person through one simply strategy to try in their next class that could build confidence, while addressing improved outcomes.

2. Social Motivation & Ability: Create Collaborations

Key Idea: People are influenced by the expectations of those around them. Change is easier when we don’t have to do it alone.

Culture is contagious. Faculty and leaders look to peers to see what’s normal and valued. Support from colleagues can lower barriers, increase confidence, and build momentum.

Try This:

Recognize those who model the desired behaviors..
Use peer accountability groups for shared initiatives..
Create collaborative groups to share resources and expertise.

Example:
A department publicly recognizes faculty who experiment with new teaching methods. They form teaching teams that meet weekly. Instead of struggling alone, they benefit from encouragement as they try and refine teaching methods.

3. Structural Motivation & Ability: Reward What You Value

Key Idea: What gets rewarded gets repeated. The environment often influences behaviors more than willpower.

Take time to learn what motivates so to select incentives and forms of recognition that send powerful signals about priorities. Use the symbolic frame to determine whether physical, digital, or other cultural environments either enable or block progress.

Try This:

Recognize behaviors publicly— small acknowledgments build momentum.
Redesign meetings to use time wisely and focus on forward-looking problem-solving.
Create visible dashboards or spaces where progress is tracked and celebrated.

Example:
A college launches micro-grants for faculty testing active learning approaches. Even modest funding drives greater experimentation. A faculty “innovation wall” lets colleagues share quick wins and new ideas. The environment itself fosters creativity.

Final Thoughts:

Change in academic pharmacy isn’t about pushing harder—it’s about pulling the right levers of influence. By addressing motivation and ability, both personal and social, reinforced by structures, you create the conditions where better behaviors become second nature.

Faculty thrive not because they’re told to—but because the system makes thriving possible.

Because the most effective leaders don’t just hope for change—they design influence.

Next Steps to Elevate Your Influence:

Looking for a thought partner to help apply the sources of influence to create cultures where innovation and resilience thrive? We offer professional coaching and mentorship to support your growth in academic pharmacy. Together, you can achieve next-level results.