Episode 90: The Secret Sauce to Increasing Your Influence at Work

Hey, Friend!

Ever feel like you’re doing everything right at work — first in, last out — but somehow, the promotions keep passing you by?

Here’s the truth: hard work alone doesn’t guarantee career growth. Influence does.

That’s what I’m unpacking in this week’s podcast episode: The Secret Sauce to Increasing Your Influence at Work.

I’ll walk you through 10 practical strategies that help you: ✅ Earn trust across teams ✅ Get noticed in meetings without overspeaking ✅ Position yourself as indispensable to leadership

You’ll leave with moves you can put into action this week — not years from now.

I pray this blesses you,

Becky

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
If you have ever felt stuck in your career, you're working hard, you're staying late, you're

(00:06):
being the most dependable person in the room, but somehow you're still being passed over
for promotions, while less capable peers move up than this episode is for you.
Today we're talking about the secret sauce that increases your influence at work, and
here's the truth.
Career growths rarely hinge on ability alone.

(00:29):
Organizations are often based on perception, and the good news is, perception gaps can
be closed.
Leaders don't just promote the hardest worker.
They promote the person who influences outcome, who builds trust, and who moves the
organization forward.
And the moves I'm sharing today are the ones that will help you step into that space.

(00:51):
Are you ready to hear more?
Let's get started.
Hey, friend.
Are you a people-pleasing conflict-avoiding leader?
Is your secret relationship with fear affecting your leadership decisions?
Do you want to learn how to build credibility and confidence, or to navigate difficult

(01:11):
conversations?
Do you long to manage your time without sacrificing your family or self-care?
Welcome to leadership becomes her.
I'm Becky Burroughs, your host and a minister and life and leadership coach with over 50
years experience in leadership.
I firmly believe God has given you everything you need to lead well.

(01:34):
You have the toolbox.
You just need to learn how to use the tools.
So get comfy or start a mindless task.
You know how to pause or rewind if you need to.
Let's get started.
So we often think that influence comes from impressing the higher ups, but influence

(01:57):
actually starts with people who see everything and know everything.
Support staff, administration teams, coordinators, volunteers, schedulers, and they're often overlooked.
But they hold the keys to how things really run.
And when you build genuine relationships with them, they become your allies.

(02:17):
So find ways to help them to show real appreciation and to listen to what they see behind the scenes.
That is insider intelligence money cannot buy.
Keep your ear to the ground.
Something else you can do is to keep a solution bank.
When problems hit, people look for the person who can solve them.

(02:38):
One of the most powerful moves is to keep a personal solution bank, a vault of what has
worked before.
If you can say, "Well, we've seen this before and here's what worked last time."
You instantly become the go to when things get tough and being the go to person, that is
influence.
But here's a word of caution.
Just because it worked last time doesn't mean you think it's going to work this time because

(03:03):
times change.
And what worked in a different time doesn't always work today.
The key is you don't use that as, well let's do what we used to do.
You use that as, "Hey, here's what we tried before."
Would that work again?
Would it not?
And hopefully it will spark some ideas that will grow from that idea.

(03:27):
Somebody will go, "Well that won't work."
But I am thinking of something that might.
You have to start somewhere.
Something else you can do is amplify voices in meetings.
This is something leaders notice.
The person who makes sure others are heard.
When someone gets cut off, bring the conversation back to them, say, "I'd like to circle back to

(03:50):
what Maria said earlier because it does connect to this point.
You're showing that you value collaboration.
You're earning loyalty from your peers and you're showing leadership.
You're not just being about yourself.
You are about the team.
You can provide a bridge between departments.
One of the fastest ways to increase your influence is to become the translator between teams.

(04:14):
Every department has its own language, its own priorities.
Finance cares about numbers and margins and the bottom line.
Sales care about deals.
Operations care about systems.
Support staff care about tasks and deadlines.
Ministers care about what's happening on Sunday.
When you can connect those dots and help people see how their work fits together and that

(04:39):
there's value in everyone's perspective, you can make yourself indispensable.
So volunteer for cross team projects.
Learn what success looks like for each department and help connect the dots.
Ask better questions.
Influence does not come from always having the answer.

(05:00):
More often than not, influence comes from asking the right questions that shift the conversation.
Instead of asking when does this do?
Ask well what would success look like here?
Instead of who owns this?
Ask what have we not considered yet?
You see leaders notice the person who expands the thinking, not just the one who checks

(05:24):
the boxes and completes the tasks.
Change your data with intention.
Opinions are easy to dismiss.
They're not really worth a whole lot.
We all have one and nobody's opinion is really worth more than anybody else's.
But data will always be your friend.

(05:44):
When you bring one clear relevant statistic into a conversation, you shift the tone immediately.
It's very common in conversations where there's a concern.
Let's say you're concerned as to why people left your church.

(06:06):
I've heard this happen.
Well, we lost a lot of people because we decided to study women's roles.
Or we lost a lot of people when we moved to this new building because they had a lot of
memories tied back to that old building.
Or we lost a lot of people when you let that student minister go because everybody
liked him.

(06:26):
Where is this information coming from?
Where is the ironclad data to support this?
The reality is we lost a lot of people during COVID.
And unless we gather data, we don't know how many we lost because they moved away because
they were dissatisfied or because they learned to, in their minds, it's just as good to watch

(06:48):
it online because they can wear their pajamas and eat breakfast while they're watching
church or some other reason.
But data will always be your friend.
So learn the metrics that matter to your boss and to their boss and anchor your contributions
to those numbers.

(07:09):
There's a subtle but powerful move that you can do when someone shares an idea, connect
it back to the leaders stated priority.
Say something like, "Oh, that really connects to what our vice president mentioned last week
about client retention or if you work in a church."
"Oh, that really connects to what the preacher was talking about last week when he was

(07:35):
sharing, he was talking about our shared values.
Suddenly you've positioned yourself as the bridge between strategy and execution."
And that's exactly where influence lives.
Learn to perfect your 32nd updates.
We're explaining something, weekends, your influence.

(07:55):
The more you talk, the less credibility you have.
Clear, concise updates, build, trust.
Try this formula.
Here's where we are, here's where we're headed and here's what we need.
And when you do that consistently, when you provide clear, concise updates that build

(08:16):
trust, people will lean in every time you speak.
Most teams run post-mortems after something fails.
Influential leaders run pre-mortems before the project even begins.
Ask like, "Imagine this failed.
What would have caused it?"
This kind of foresight positions you as someone who prevents problems before they happen.

(08:40):
And there's many ways of asking it.
As you think about doing a project, what do we need to be thinking about?
Or what contraindications are there?
What could possibly go wrong?
Getting people to start thinking ahead, you can circumvent any of those perceived or imagined
problems before they become reality.

(09:01):
But I want to go back to what I said before that most teams run post-mortem after something
fails.
That is very important.
However, that's not the only reason to reflect on something you've done.
The main reason to reflect on something you've done together as a team is to learn from
it.

(09:21):
And I believe, and I've talked about this in previous episodes, I believe that conducting
a reflective practice as a team, asking four questions, what worked, what didn't work, or
didn't work as well as we thought it was going to, what might we do differently next time,
either because it didn't work, or just a new idea, and what if, which is the invitation

(09:45):
to think outside the box, which is very important for the creative people in the group.
Developing a culture where you do a reflective practice where you celebrate what worked, and
you document what didn't work so that when you do this event again next year is absolutely
vital to the success of anything that, especially something that you do repeatedly, whether

(10:09):
it be an event, like, let's say you work for a church, whether it be an event like taking
kids to camp every year or having a high school retreat or an elder minister retreat or an
east, something special at Easter, something special at Christmas or on and on and on, when
you take the time to reflect on it and to write down, to document what worked, what didn't

(10:33):
work, what we might do differently next time and what if.
In the next year, when you get ready to do that same event, the first thing you do is pull
up the reflective practice and go, "Oh, I forgot."
Remember last year we said this did not work, we want to be sure to not do that part of it
again.
"Oh, here's an idea somebody came up with, that's a good one."

(10:54):
Well, absolutely transform the success of any of your projects.
At the end of the day, influence is not about your job title.
A leadership is about influence, but you don't have to be a leader to have influence.
It's about your ability to shape outcomes, to connect people and just to make the whole

(11:15):
team better.
If you've ever felt stuck in your job, remember, you don't have to wait for a promotion
to start leading with influence.
This secret sauce is available to you right now and when you use it consistently, you will
notice the shift, not in just how others see you, but also in how you see yourself.

(11:36):
Hey, if you found this helpful, share it with a friend who's feeling stuck in their career
and as always, I'd love to hear how you're applying these strategies in your own workplace.
Hey, let's do this again next week.
It is my prayer that this podcast inspired you, blessed you, or made you think.

(11:58):
So, please share it with a friend, subscribe, and please leave a review.
Hey, I want to connect with you.
Follow me on Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn.
Send me a DM or email me at [e-mail].
If you are a Christian woman who leads and you are interested in one of my Leadership Boot

(12:18):
camps for Women in Ministry, this is a four week workshop or becoming part of a Kairos
Cohort, your long group coaching, send me a DM or an email for more information.
We'll talk soon.
[Music]