As a leader, your ability to influence, navigate and cultivate meaningful relationships with diverse stakeholders is essential for achieving your goals (it can be about driving organizational changes, help your team collaborate with others, getting a promotion, etc..).

Building a “stakeholders map” helps leaders to identify the key decision-maker(s), common ground and stakes, build rapport around shared vision and objectives and design relevant action plans.

Let’s explore how this can be used in order to develop collaborative leadership and cultivate impactful partnerships.

.

How to build and use this map ? 🔄 Follow these steps

1. Before starting, take a moment to think about what you want to achieve : write down you objective in the center (cf below).
2. In order to reach that objective, identify the main stakeholders involved and list them. It can be internal or external stakeholders.
3. Within each group of stakeholders, identify the main person / decision-maker to convince. That’s for helping you to narrow down and focus your action for a maximum impact.
4. For each person, identify their stakes: if that person supports you or your decision or not, what will be better or worst? That’s for helping you to prioritize who to work with first.
5. Put yourself in his/her shoes and think about what this person is trying to achieve and what is important for him/her (in its role and as an individual). Based on what you have perceived, and identify ONE first simple action (under your control) on how to build collaboration and influence.

.

.

Some ideas for building Collaboration 🌟

You can find below some ideas to consider based on your relationship “maturity”.

Building Rapport:

• Establishing Trust: Forge authentic connections with key stakeholders by demonstrating integrity, empathy, and transparency in your interactions.
• Active Listening: Practice active listening to understand stakeholders’ perspectives, concerns, and aspirations, fostering a culture of mutual respect and appreciation.

Identifying Common Ground:

• Aligning Goals: Identify shared objectives and common interests between stakeholders, facilitating alignment and synergy towards collective success.
• Mitigating Conflicts: Address potential conflicts or divergent interests proactively, seeking win-win solutions that uphold the collective well-being of all parties involved.

Developing Collaboration:

• Facilitating Dialogue: Foster open communication channels and collaborative forums where stakeholders can share insights, exchange ideas, and co-create innovative solutions.
• Empowering Engagement: Empower stakeholders to actively participate in decision-making processes, leveraging their expertise and perspectives to drive informed choices.

.

Picture from Startup Stock Photos