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A six-minute read from Kaihan Krippendorff on how to be more influential at work. 

Whether you’re trying to get your dream job, convince your boss to give you more responsibility, get your colleagues excited about your idea, get neighbors to vote for your proposal, or simply persuade family members to consider somewhere new for vacation, your influencing skills are key. We all know this. And yet, few of us do it well because we fail to exercise the full breadth of influencing skills at our disposal.

Like a soccer player who learns only to kick with one foot or a boxer who masters just a couple of punches, we often fail to influence others because we return to the same limited set of strategies, over and over again. Usually, we prefer an influencing approach that works on us. The problem with this approach, of course, is that what works on us may not work on others.

Research shows that successful influencers don’t feel frustrated when it comes to the political-influencing game. In fact, they see it as an exciting opportunity. These adept influencers apply a wider variety of tactics to help persuade their leadership and organization to adopt their products, projects, and ideas. Sharpening your ability to influence allows you to choose from a toolbox of skills and select the right one to use at the right time.

Key points include:

• Which tactics do I use often?
• Which do I use rarely?
• Which am I uncomfortable using?

Read the full article, Use these tactics to be more influential at work, on FastCompany.com.