Why Influence Skills Matter Now More Than Ever

In this current environment where our ways of working have been impacted by remote and hybrid work arrangements, influence skills have emerged as more important than ever before. Building, protecting and using influence is critical for achieving goals when our interactions have become more remote and our communications channels more mediated. Now, more than ever, influencing others through good decision-making, interpersonal relationships, emotional intelligence, and communication, matters for success.  

Watch our webinar, led by Wharton Business School’s Professor Cade Massey, where we discussed:

- how you can think about building your facility with a wide range of influence tools to help with these efforts

- a range of topics, such as power and status, informal networks, coalitions, persuasion and ethics, while focusing in on the core influence skills needed to thrive within the current workplace

- ideas and concepts that will help you examine how you can adjust your influence behaviors to better influence in your present workplace setting.

Cade Massey is a Practice Professor in the Wharton School’s Operations, Information and Decisions Department. He received his PhD from the University of Chicago and taught at Duke University and Yale University before moving to Penn. Massey’s research focuses on judgment under uncertainty – how, and how well, people predict what will happen in the future. His work draws on experimental and “real world” data such as employee stock options, 401k savings, the National Football League draft, and graduate school admissions.  His research has led to long-time collaborations with Google, Merck and multiple professional sports franchises. 

Massey’s research has been published in leading psychology and management journals, and covered by the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, The Economist,  and National Public Radio. He has taught MBA and Executive MBA courses for 15 years, receiving teaching awards for courses on negotiation, influence, organizational behavior and human resources. He also co-teaches Wharton’s “People Analytics” MOOC on Coursera. Massey is faculty co-director of Wharton People Analytics, co-host of “Wharton Moneyball” on SiriusXM Business Radio, and co-creator of the Massey-Peabody NFL Power Rankings for the Wall Street Journal. He lives in Center City Philadelphia.