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    • Influence

    Influence Courses Online

    Explore principles of influence for effective communication and leadership. Learn techniques for persuasion, negotiation, and building credibility.

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    Explore the Influence Course Catalog

    • Status: New
      New
      Status: Free Trial
      Free Trial
      U

      University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

      Wetland Conservation Through a Human Lens

      Skills you'll gain: Community Outreach, Cultural Diversity, Policy Analysis, Social Sciences, Cultural Sensitivity, Environment and Resource Management, Environmental Issue, Environmental Policy, Natural Resource Management, Water Resources, Governance, Conflict Management

      Intermediate · Course · 1 - 4 Weeks

    • Status: New
      New
      Status: Free Trial
      Free Trial
      U

      UBITS

      Negociación y gestión de métricas

      Skills you'll gain: Negotiation, Overcoming Objections, Customer Relationship Management, Sales Management, Rapport Building, Stakeholder Management, Sales, Sales Strategy, Customer Relationship Building, Influencing, Sales Pipelines, Customer experience strategy (CX), Persuasive Communication, Environmental Social And Corporate Governance (ESG), Dashboard

      Intermediate · Course · 1 - 3 Months

    • Status: New
      New
      S

      Starweaver

      Revolutionizing Finance: Mastering Blockchain Foundations

      Skills you'll gain: Blockchain, Ledgers (Accounting), FinTech, Payment Systems, Digital Assets, Financial Trading, Financial Market, Financial Services, Financial Systems, Transaction Processing, Emerging Technologies, Cryptography, Application Development, Computer Programming Tools

      Intermediate · Course · 1 - 4 Weeks

    • Status: New
      New
      U

      University of Maryland, College Park

      New Map for Product Managers: Rulesets for Global Business

      Skills you'll gain: Global Marketing, International Relations, International Finance, Cultural Sensitivity, Business Risk Management, Market Dynamics, Economics, Business Strategy, Political Sciences, Supply Chain Management, Market Analysis, Brand Management

      Beginner · Course · 1 - 3 Months

    • Status: New
      New
      Status: Free Trial
      Free Trial
      U

      University of Colorado System

      Communicating Across Cultures for Team Success

      Skills you'll gain: Conflict Management, Intercultural Competence, Team Building, Diversity and Inclusion, Cultural Diversity, Team Leadership, Collaboration, Active Listening, Communication, Empathy, Leadership, Non-Verbal Communication, Self-Awareness

      Beginner · Course · 1 - 4 Weeks

    • Status: New
      New
      P

      Packt

      Hands-on BGP

      Skills you'll gain: Border Gateway Protocol, Routing Protocols, Multiprotocol Label Switching, Network Routing, Virtual Private Networks (VPN), Network Protocols, Wide Area Networks, Network Planning And Design, Network Troubleshooting, Configuration Management

      Intermediate · Course · 1 - 4 Weeks

    • Status: New
      New
      Status: Free Trial
      Free Trial
      U

      University of Alberta

      Creating a Workplace People Want to Be

      Skills you'll gain: Safety Culture, Diversity Equity and Inclusion Initiatives, Stress Management, Organizational Leadership, Industrial and Organizational Psychology, Occupational Safety And Health, Employee Performance Management, Trustworthiness, Culture Transformation, Team Leadership, Strategic Leadership, Leadership, Employee Engagement, Resilience, Mental Health, Empathy, Communication

      Beginner · Course · 1 - 3 Months

    • Status: New
      New
      U

      University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

      Understanding Food Regulations & Food Labeling

      Skills you'll gain: Good Manufacturing Practices, Food Quality Assurance And Control, Food Safety and Sanitation, Nutrition and Diet, Packaging and Labeling, Regulatory Compliance, Regulatory Affairs, Law, Regulation, and Compliance

      Intermediate · Course · 1 - 4 Weeks

    • I

      Indian School of Business

      Certificate in Strategic Leadership

      Skills you'll gain: Business Strategy, Crisis Management, Strategic Thinking, Strategic Leadership, Professional Development, Business Leadership, Growth Strategies, Business Modeling, Leadership Development, Leadership, Leadership and Management, Competitive Analysis, Stakeholder Communications, Executive Presence, Competitive Intelligence, Team Leadership, Strategic Decision-Making, Business Development, Value Propositions, Market Analysis

      University Certificate · 6 - 12 Months

    • Status: New
      New
      C

      Coursera Instructor Network

      AI-Augmented Decision-Making for Business Leaders

      Skills you'll gain: Forecasting, Business Leadership, Data Ethics, Strategic Decision-Making, Business Strategy, Leadership, Data-Driven Decision-Making, Artificial Intelligence, Data Storytelling, Business Risk Management, Business Ethics, Decision Making, Organizational Leadership, Technical Communication, Technology Strategies, Culture Transformation, Risk Management

      Beginner · Course · 1 - 4 Weeks

    • Status: New
      New
      C

      Coursera Instructor Network

      Managing Hybrid & AI-Augmented Teams: The Future of Work

      Skills you'll gain: Diversity and Inclusion, Organizational Leadership, Team Leadership, Strategic Leadership, People Management, Leadership, Business Ethics, Innovation, Leadership and Management, Business Leadership, Artificial Intelligence, Virtual Teams, Telecommuting, Communication

      Beginner · Course · 1 - 4 Weeks

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    In summary, here are 10 of our most popular influence courses

    • Wetland Conservation Through a Human Lens: University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
    • Negociación y gestión de métricas: UBITS
    • Revolutionizing Finance: Mastering Blockchain Foundations: Starweaver
    • New Map for Product Managers: Rulesets for Global Business: University of Maryland, College Park
    • Communicating Across Cultures for Team Success: University of Colorado System
    • Hands-on BGP: Packt
    • Creating a Workplace People Want to Be: University of Alberta
    • Understanding Food Regulations & Food Labeling: University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
    • Certificate in Strategic Leadership: Indian School of Business
    • AI-Augmented Decision-Making for Business Leaders: Coursera Instructor Network

    Frequently Asked Questions about Influence

    To influence someone is to affect or change their behavior without the direct use of authority, coercion, or force. Instead, the influencer creates change by shifting the mindset of individuals, groups, or entire organizations, persuading them to adopt the desired course of action of their own free will. The ability to influence can be important for everyday communication and maintaining harmonious relationships in our personal and family lives, but it is also a very important skill for many jobs and career paths.

    For instance, being able to subtly influence your customers to “get to yes” when you’re closing a deal is an essential talent of sales professionals of all kinds, whether you’re selling shoes or business software. In fact, the world of social media and digital marketing has created a new type of selling called influencer marketing, in which influential personalities and cultural figures post pictures and testimonials with the product being sold.

    The ability to influence is also essential for leadership roles in any organization, as management positions require you to motivate employees to not only fulfill their roles but to work enthusiastically at the peak of their abilities. The best executives and CEOs are talented at bringing their teams into vision alignment, with strongly shared priorities, values, and focused goal setting that allow organizations to succeed - in business as well as in the recruitment of top-flight talent.‎

    Influencing skills are important for almost any career that requires working in a team, but they are most important for roles as managers and top executives. Dale Carnegie’s “How to Win Friends and Influence People” has been a mainstay in business school curricula despite being written nearly a century ago because this skill has always been fundamental for success in the business world. The ability to get your team aligned to work together effectively is rare and highly valued; according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, top executives earned a median annual salary of $104,690 per year in 2019, including a median pay of $184,460 for chief executive officers (CEOs).‎

    Absolutely. There is a common myth that the ability to influence others is simply an innate talent that some people have and others don’t, but the reality is that influencing is a skill that is taught at every business school - including schools offering courses online through Coursera. You can learn how to influence others from leading faculty at top-ranked schools like University of Pennsylvania, University of Michigan, Northwestern University, and Macquarie University. And even though Coursera lets you learn remotely on a flexible schedule, you can still work with faculty in live virtual office hours that let you practice your influencing skills to an expert audience.‎

    Some skills or experience you might need to have before learning influence are strong social skills that allow you to get along with all types of people, such as supervisors, peers, and customers. If you have any sales experience or experience presenting information and concepts to others in person or online, you may already have the skills necessary to learn advanced influencing methods.‎

    The kind of people who are best suited for roles in influence are those who are confident in their abilities to motivate and persuade others whether or not they’re in authority roles. Types of people well suited for roles in influence can build and maintain high-quality relationships with diverse groups of individuals. People best suited for learning influence can discern other people’s attitudes, diverse social factors influencing behavior, and why people may or may not act on their intentions.‎

    Learning influence may be right for you if you want to learn how to develop it so you can become more effective in achieving your organizational goals. Studying the subject may be right for you if you want to understand the framework of power and influence and the dynamics of effective networks, persuasion, and leverage. If you're in any type of role where you need negotiation, communication, and sales skills, then learning influence may be a good choice for you.‎

    Common career paths for someone who has studied influence are often found in corporate management in general where the ability to persuade people is paramount. Specific common career paths for people who have studied influence might be product and brand management, research and development, and any leadership position in an organization’s C-suite. Another common career path for someone in influence is blogging where paid or sponsored influencers create content on various social media platforms. The most common career path for someone in influence is in sales where it’s critical to understand how to best persuade customers and clients using various tools, including neuromarketing.‎

    There are many topics you can study that are related to influence, such as emotional intelligence, which may help you to work effectively in teams, build cooperative relationships, and exercise effective influence to foster meaningful change. Another topic related to influence that you can study is social psychology to help you understand why people behave in certain ways. Marketing is another strongly related topic to influence that you might consider studying.‎

    This FAQ content has been made available for informational purposes only. Learners are advised to conduct additional research to ensure that courses and other credentials pursued meet their personal, professional, and financial goals.

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