Manage vs. Influence

What's the best way to navigate situations, people and circumstances? I often ponder about how we process the different styles of communication. For simplicity sake, I would say there's two approaches...the tendency to resolve (influence) or manage ( working with status quo). Ultimately it comes down to discerning what's appropriate depending on the situation centered around the energy level we're willing to exert. Experiences lend cues to help us pick those paths and what's best for all collectively. My bias stands with centering these decisions around our well being and ability to see through the results we seek.