The Influence Edge: How to Persuade Others to Help You Achieve Your Goals [Paperback]

Alan Vengel (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 30, 2001

In order to succeed in the new business environment, workers must learn how to influence people over whom they have no direct control. In this book, an experienced organizational consultant shows readers how to build alliances and persuade peers, not just boss them around. He uses case studies and anecdotes from his own practice to illustrate specific tactics that can be used in any work situation.

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

OLD-SCHOOL top-down organizational behavior won’t cut it anymore. Direct chain-of-command hierarchies are obsolete, fast giving way to networked, team-oriented organizations. To be successful, the ability to influence others—especially others over whom you have no direct control—is a must. You have to build alliances and persuade people, not boss them around. The ability to influence people isn’t something you’re born with, it’s a skill anyone can acquire. In his new book, The Influence Edge, experienced organizational consultant Alan Vengel teaches the influence skills needed to enlist the cooperation of others, inside and outside the organization, to achieve your professional goals.

Drawing on case studies and illustrative anecdotes from his consulting practice, Vengel introduces a powerful system of influence initiatives and strategic thinking that anyone can apply to almost any work situation. The Influence Edge details specific influence tactics that can lead to workplace success. It provides a nuts and bolts guide for planning for a real influence situation, and shows exactly how to map out a strategy.

And The Influence Edge goes deeper into the influence realm to show how to build better long-term rapport, even with really difficult people.

An interactive self-study guide, The Influence Edge offers immediate hands-on applications. Its heavily tested, practical insights are embodied in a variety of exercises that help readers evaluate their progress, reflect deeply on what they’ve read, and build a personal strategy for increasing their influence edge.

Vengel equips readers to influence without authority, sell ideas, and build relationships. The Influence Edge is designed to be used again and again. It provides a complete toolkit for turning the often disorderly and seemingly impossible task of getting someone else to help you achieve your goal into an entirely viable process of analysis, preparation, and action.

About the Author

Alan A. Vengel

Alan A. Vengel has over twenty years of experience as a consultant, speaker, and educator in management training and organizational development. A partner in Vengel Lash Associates and a strategic partner in Beverly Kaye and Associates, Inc., he has conducted over 2,000 workshops and seminars in management, leadership, and supervisory skills.

Books by the author:
The Influence Edge

Product Details

• Paperback: 120 pages
• Publisher: Berrett-Koehler Publishers; 1st edition (January 30, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 158376156X
• ISBN-13: 978-1583761564
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 7.4 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #436,553 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Influence Edge, March 25, 2001

By 

Brad Warren (Castro Valley, CA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Influence Edge: How to Persuade Others to Help You Achieve Your Goals (Paperback)

Excellent book! Easy to read, easy to understand, just makes sense. I especially liked the way it left space for me to fill in my own real situation. So it goes beyond the theoretical to the very practical. I use the steps as outlined in the book whenever I'm going to meet with someone who I am trying to influence. While I may not always get 100% of what I want, I have been much more successful since reading the book. And I'm able to see things from the other person's point of view much better that I did before. I highly recommend this book to anyone who has to influence and/or negotiate with another human being, be it for business or personal reasons.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Learn When to Push and When to Pull, May 4, 2001

By 

Michael Crowley (Albany, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Influence Edge: How to Persuade Others to Help You Achieve Your Goals (Paperback)

This is a tremendously helpful and eminently practical book. I was especially impressed by the concept of "push-pull energy", the idea that there are two very different ways of influencing people and that you need to know when and how to use each one, or when to combine them. (Basically, push energy is assertive and pull energy is inclusive, i.e. pulling people in). It's a subtle concept but the exercises throughout the book show you how to use it to design a very sophisticated and effective influence strategy.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Very Practical, January 29, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: The Influence Edge: How to Persuade Others to Help You Achieve Your Goals (Paperback)

It's really taught me how to handle a very difficult person and very difficult work situations. I highly recommend it for anyone dealing with the public.