Want to influence your boss? Join the same gym

A recently published Baylor University study shows that informal settings are an ideal place to bridge the gap between the executive level and … whatever level below that in which you may be residing.

The study, “Building buy-in: The need for internal relationships and informal coalitions,” was authored by Marlene Neill, an assistant journalism professor, and published in the Public Relations Review. It includes the following anecdote, which was part of a Baylor press release:

“We realized that our business leaders were listening to us, but we didn’t have that ball all the way punched into the end zone,” one corporate communications executive told Neill.

The game-changer was “informal coalitions” of the sort that stem from talks in break rooms, coffee shops or fitness centers. But recruiting allies that way may mean letting someone else take credit for ideas, the executive said.

“We joke that we don’t care how we get the ball in the end zone as long as we score,” he said.