The book is a good exposition of influence. I believe that The way Stacey defines Influence and she goes about explaining how to develop influence (Monday - Monday) and the importance of being consistent in building our influence does work..

Stacey starts by asking the reader to consider if they are really as influential as they think they are. She provides ways to measure, increase influence and maintain influence as a leader

She explains how challenging it is to receive honest/ objective feedback about our leadership style. This challenge should propel us to lead in such a way that we just don’t have ‘yes’ men around us

At the end of each chapter, Stacey summarises the main point and provides ‘step actions’ for the reader to practice (for self awareness purposes)

Reading this book was very timely for me as it helped me critically analyse my leadership style, communication and consistency.

Especially in the world of marketing, social media and blogging, talking about influencers is the latest hit but although we appreciate and aim at being given such a label, we rarely know how to achieve it and most importantly, to maintain it. This book offers, through examples and coaching-like advices, a long-term strategy about building influence. There is a new business context, shaped by social media and new technologies and there is a lot of work to do in order to understand and manage properly the new conditions. 'There is so much more to influence than showing up and giving a powerful presentation...'. I particularly appreciated how to author eliminates, one by one, the misperceptions on influence, and replace them with straightworward and long-term strategies. 'Influence is all about your communication', describing a person with influence as someone who is trustworthy, credible, confident, knowledgeable, authentic and passionate. There is always room for improvement and the new environment creates the medium for constant development and achievement.
It is an useful book, including measurable tools and methods for preparing for taking over a leadership position. Strongly recommended to anyone coping with the challenges of building and maintaining influence.

I liked this book because it makes connections that we rarely think about. We often assume that influence is something we "turn on" when we need it. Actually, as the book expertly points out, we influence all of the time with everything we say and do. If we truly tap into that power, as the author suggests, we would be more conscious of what we do and say.

We need that kind of information in this day and time!

The author propose the reader a very intriguing question: Are You Really as Influential as You Think You Are? We all know that influence is a currency. It’s the basis of human politics at the end. We also know that with the arise of social media the concept of influence has changed, but how do we measure influence?

According the author, “Most of us believe we are more influential than we actually are.”

If you open a newspaper on the pages of local politics, it is easy to understand this statement is true…

This also open another interesting possibility: if you can measure your influence level, can you also increase it? Stacey Hanke claims it is indeed possible, and proposes a step-by-step method.

The book is classically divided in three parts: Influence redefined, The drivers of Influence, The elements of influence.

The first part is a definition of what influence really is nowadays, far from traditional thinking, and a case for influence as supreme competitive advantage in business. There is also an interesting discussion on how influence correlates on being able to communicate effectively.

The second part builds up momentum trying to explain that influence is not something that comes naturally, but one needs to practice.

In the final part we finally get into the method, increasing our own influence working on the fundamentals: self-awareness, consistency and adaptability.

What I liked most:it is a book made of no-nonsense wisdom. Nothing really revolutionary, but a practical and complete guide.

What I disliked most: the language is sometimes too related to the coaching background of the author, too conversational for my tastes. Monday to MondayTM? No, come on… it’s abuse of registered trademarks…

Content: 3/5

Language: 2/5

Cover: 3/5