A leader's ability to influence others is likely related to the leader's level of social awareness (knowing how one is perceived by others in that environment.) Based on perceptions of the social environment, a leader must also alter behaviors as needed to more effectively relate to others, a process which has been termed "interpersonal adaptability". Interpersonal adaptability is central to the role of the leader who must use influence and persuasion to successfully accomplish the mission through the work of subordinates. The objectives of this research are to develop a model of social influence, to propose training, and to pilot test the concepts. To meet these objectives, we first provide an overview of the relationship between social awareness and influence. Second, we describe a model of social awareness and influence. Third, we describe how these concepts link to the leader competencies defined in FM 6-22. Next, we discuss implications of this research for training leaders to enhance their social awareness and influence skills, and we present the concepts that were developed for training these skills. Finally, we describe how these concepts were pilot tested, and we present the results and our conclusions from the pilot. Procedure:Based on a review of relevant research, a model of social awareness and influence was developed and the factors hypothesized to impact the model were identified. The results of an expert rating task revealed that experience influencing others, knowledge of non-verbal behavior and cultural norms, communication/persuasion skills, political skills, social intelligence, metacognition, and self-awareness were the factors that were most likely to have a high impact on the social awareness and influence process and that could potentially be improved through training. Consequently several training concepts were identified: knowledge of the social awareness and influence process, knowledge of/skill in reading verbal and non-verbal cues of others, and knowledge of/skill in using influence tactics. Using a combination of commercially available tools and customized content, we developed and pilot tested a six-hour social awareness and influence training program with 72 NCOs and Company-grade officers.viiiThe pilot test served a dual purpose: (1) to test the various training concepts to determine their suitability for ongoing use and (2) to make some initial determinations about whether social awareness and influence skills could be improved through training. Evaluation data were collected at two levels to assess the effectiveness of the training: participant reactions (level 1) and acquisition of new knowledge and skills (level 2). The level 1 evaluation was conducted using a survey administered at the end of each training session. A pre/post test design was used to conduct the level 2 evaluation -participants were assessed via a test of nonverbal sensitivity and a role-play exercise both before and after the training on their ability to read verbal and nonverbal cues and on adjusting their...

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