Talk synopsis

What are the key ingredients of influence? This talk breaks down ‘trust’ and ‘credibility’ into a practical framework—built on purpose, relationships, and advocacy—plus tools for communicating effectively across technical, organizational, and business contexts.

Talk abstract

What are the key ingredients of influence? At the Staff+ level, influence isn’t just about being technically right—it’s about being trusted, credible, and aligned with your organization’s goals. But trust and credibility are often treated as vague traits, not skills you can build with intention.

This talk breaks those concepts down into a practical framework grounded in three dimensions:

* Purpose – clarity of direction builds conviction and resilience
* Relationships – influence flows through trust, not just logic
* Advocacy – visibility, alignment, and narrative shape how your work lands

You’ll also learn how to apply the Three Contexts—technical, organizational, and business—to tailor your message to the audience that needs to hear it.

Whether you're guiding technical direction, driving cross-functional change, or mentoring others, this talk will help you identify where your influence needs support—and how to scale it with clarity and impact.

Audience takeaways

* Deconstruct influence into practical, buildable dimensions: purpose, relationships, and advocacy
* Learn how trust and credibility actually work at scale—and what erodes them
* Use the Three Contexts–technical, organizational, and business–to align your message with what stakeholders value
* Identify personal gaps in influence and build a roadmap for strategic growth
* Shift from “being right” to being heard, trusted, and followed

PS: This proposal was a finalist for the prestigious StaffPlus conference organized by LeadDev in New York in Oct 2025. I also presented this topic at the LeadDev San Francisco meetup in Aug 2025 and it was very well received. See link to that event in my Sessionize public profile.