Influencing with Style: The IPQ

This interactive session was run for the Association for Coaching Workshop, October 2008 and March 2009.

The inaugural event for the AC in South Yorkshire was very well attended. Here's a selection of what they said afterwards...

"Thank you so much for coming up to present at our very first event — we much appreciate it and from the feedback we received, everyone enjoyed themselves and got a lot out of the session." Lindsey Benton, Area Events Coordinator, Association for Coaching

"I like the IPQ. A good ice breaker, simple to administer and not too wieldy in terms of what it seeks to do. For Coaches without a Psychology background or BPS Level B Qualification this is a boon. Working usually on a one-to-one basis, and with Senior Management, this is an exceptionally useful and powerful tool in my toolkit." David Morley — Enabling People to Achieve.

"It was very thought provoking and I felt a resonance with much of your thinking. I liked your active learning style and as it was my first attendance at an event for the Association for Coaching it was a very impactful introduction. " Nigel Lewis, Life Coach, C-Options.

"Your session was fun, enjoyable and informative. I use many psychometric instruments mainly as an aide to exploring with the client and developing the coaching conversation as opposed to trying to 'fit people in boxes'. I can of course see parallels with some of the psychometrics, such as MBTI yet what I enjoyed about the IPQ is that it is uncomplicated, very easy to work with and pragmatic. The language is non threatening — simple, straightforward, making it easy for the client to relate to." Dawn Beadle, Sandhill Coaching and Consulting, Epworth, Doncaster.

Attracting one of the largest attendances for this group in Maidenhead, reactions included ...

"I really enjoyed the session yesterday evening and was most impressed with my report" — Elaine Joseph, PP Development Ltd. Career, performance, life and executive coaching, training and consultancy services (visit Elaine's website).

"This is a great tool for coaches working with private clients, it is concise, user-friendly, and effective" Florence Phillips, White Sail Coaching and career strategies for professionals : to think differently about your career moves.

"I found the session fascinating and oh so close to the real me!" Sheila Adams, Leadership Development & Coaching Manager, Addenbrookes Hospital, Cambridge.

"A most enjoyable and insightful evening. The IPQ tool is very accessible for business practitioners who don't have time to get immersed in psychology." Paul Curran, The Excellence Game.

"We do a lot of development work with groups around influencing — influencing others and also at an organisational level so looking at the IPQ was very interesting." Jill Pennington, Director, Interaction Learning and Development.

"It was truly amazing — my awareness has definitely been raised!" Marilyn Soghomonian, Quantum Leap Coaching (tel: +44 (0) 118 947 6134). Sign up for Marilyn's free newsletter on the site, "Change Your Mind — Change Your World".

"I really enjoyed the seminar — a very useful tool for coaching." Christine Cooke, Peopletalent.

"As a corporate/executive coach, I can really see the benefit of using the IPQ tool to encourage self-awareness." Vina Sharma.

Session Description:

By exploring the dimensions of natural influence you will learn how to flex your style to match that of your client, increasing not only your success, but also the success of your client.

The ability to influence is critical to success. This engaging session will help you to explore your natural influencing style, which in turn will help you to understand more about your client's preferences. The combination of these will enhance your capability to help your client gain the success they desire.

This is relevant to all coaches who are committed to self-development and enhancing their capability, particularly those who are interested in how to become more influential. The learning from the session will not only help build more effective coaching relationships, but will also be applicable to all interpersonal influencing scenarios.

By the end of the session, you will be able to ...

• Recognise your own preferred style based on the four dimensions of influence
• Understand that skill can modify preferred style and the energy involved
• Identify development actions which can enhance your ability to flex your style
• Recognise other people's preferred influencing styles
• Be more influential in your coaching engagements, and life!

Facilitated by ...

Colin Gautrey: author, coach and facilitator specialising in power and influence. Colin coaches and trains executives around the world and is co-author of "21 Dirty Tricks at Work" and "Political Dilemmas at Work"

Maureen Atkins:: Fully accredited AC coach and facilitator. Having run her own business for over 10 years Maureen has travelled internationally to work with groups and individuals developing their personal power and influence to bring significant business results.