Make the undesirable desirable

We have some of those you refer to as prickly, overbearing and stubborn also. You're right I've found, in most instances, if we take time to hear them out they can indeed become ardent supporters. It's as if they choose to focus their energy on the negative because after all that's the easy way. It's not difficult to see the bad in everything, sometimes it takes energy and effort to see the positive. We have to influence them to channel their energies towards the positive and when we do, they tend to be able to influence others too.

When monitoring the level of interaction between an online teacher and their online students and I note someone with far less interactions than others and marginal progress, I'll ask the teacher what the "story is" for this student. Which school are they from, why are they taking the course, how do they see their performance?

Sometimes I'll get a direct answer that explains their inconsistent progress but other times I'll get an awkward "brush off" kind of response. However, what I have observed is that invariably the teacher will follow up in some way, perhaps by checking with their guidance counselor, calling the student or parent, checking live with the student when feasible etc.

I believe what happens is that teachers sometimes get consumed with the "busy-ness" of grading work, recording attendance, reading discussion threads, etc and their own lives that sometimes students do "fade into cyberspace". Their reaction to my question is a reminder that every one of the students is important, not just those that are the obvious leaders or those totally tuned out but also those kind of on the "fringes" who may need ongoing encouragement to draw them in and keep them going.

If all teachers could keep in mind that every student has a "story" think of the influence it would have on how they deal with them no matter what their setting.

I found another example of this idea of putting a "human face" on statistics this weekend at a short film festival. It was a movie about the "Eyes Wide Open" Project. It is very powerful.

Here's a different video, of the same project.

I think we have to teach and design lessons with an eye on relevance. What are the big ideas students need to know about this lesson to be successful as adults?
Unfortunately, sometimes teachers emphasize the details in the book more than the big ideas. The students need to be engaged and make connections that this will benefit me in the future. The relationship respect for the teacher usually follows.

I think the reason we need to allow our students to share their stories (including our adult learners -teachers we support) Is because it will help us and them to understand what they already know. Then we can design training opportunities to take them in incremental steps from where they are to where we want them to be. I would argue that WE cannot decide what is relevant for them. Influencer, in chapter 5 is encouraging us to use less motivational speaking and give the learners, those we wish to influence more chances to practice the new skills in ways that they can see improvements. If we are trying to encourage learners talking about a future they can't imagine, it doesn't get them from here to there.

p. 112 - When leaders and training designers combine too much motivation with too few opportunities to improve ability they don't produce change, they create resentment and depression. Influence masters take the opposite tack. They overinvest in strategies that help increase ability. They avoid trying to solve ability problems with stronger motivational techniques.

I would suggest that we can only know what is relevant for our learners by hearing their stories.

I also think that Influencer is saying we should have fewer "how this will benefit you in the future" kinds of conversations with our learners. (See more of my thoughts on this below)

And, I think by allowing them to tell their stories, we allow them to connect with their dreams. If they don't articulate their stories, I believe they are likely to stay "stuck" in the status quo.