Influencer: The Power to Change Anything by Kerry Patterson - Essay Example

According to the authors, a small group of remarkable leaders and scholars has been changing the world by influencing people’s behavior and they encourage the readers to be influencers. They maintain that it is essential to find vital behaviors as big problems succumb to changes in just a few behaviors and that changing behavior requires changing minds. In the second part of the book, the authors deal with the six sources of influence to make change inevitable and they are personal motivation, personal ability, social motivation, social ability, structural motivation, and structural ability. Personal motivation is important to make the undesirables desirable and to overcome reluctance and resistance by connecting to values. The personal ability helps one in surpassing one’s limits and it is important to overinvest in learning how to master skills and emotions because new behavior requires new skills. Social motivation is another important source of influence as it straps up peer pressures. Another significant factor is a social ability that amplifies influence through just-in-time teamwork. Structural motivation and structural ability help one in designing rewards and demanding accountability and changing the environment. “There is a growing body of knowledge as well as an impressive supply of real-life success stories that teach exactly how to change almost any human behavior. Read the scholarly works of Dr. Albert Bandura. Then watch what Dr. Mimi Silbert does at Delancey Street. These two influencers alone demonstrate that, if you know what you’re doing, you can indeed change remarkably resistant behavior.” (Patterson, Grenny, Maxfield, McMillan, and Switzler, 2007, p 253). Therefore, Influencer: The Power to Change Anything is an essential book dealing with the strategies to develop influencers who can replace bad behaviors with powerful new skills, motivate others to change, and make things happen.

In a reflective exploration of the book Influencer: The Power to Change Anything, it becomes lucid that the authors provide valuable lessons on leadership and care management in nursing by preparing the readers to be real influencers or leaders who can influence the people around them. Significantly, this is a thought-provoking book that incorporates the outstanding insights of behavioral scientists and business leaders along with the astounding stories of high-powered influencers from all walks of life. The authors aim at teaching the various steps of the influence process which include vigorous strategies for making change inevitable in one’s a personal life, business, and the entire world. Therefore, it is important to recognize that the book informs greatly on leadership, especially nursing leadership, and every reader is motivated to be a leader who influences people in his area of activity. In short, Influencer: The Power to Change Anything has great value with regard to leadership in care management in nursing and the book motivates and helps one in becoming a leader of the people around him, by replacing bad behaviors with powerful new skills, motivating others to change, and making things happen.