William Scott
Influence Processes: A Leadership Analysis
Leadership & Ethics for Managers
June 1, 2008 Abstract
A leader’s ability to influence and motivate followers is a crucial skill that effective leaders must possess. This is why organizations allow leaders to control many of the operational functions of the organization. By controlling several key operational components, the leader is able to direct and institute change throughout the organization. The purpose of this paper is to analyze leader influence models and present the practical implications of their use. Influence Processes: A Leadership Analysis
Introduction
In order to be an effective leader, a leader must be able to influence followers to comply and
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By having control over the organizations reward system, the leader can mold the organization into one that conforms and promotes their organizational vision. Used correctly, this form of leadership influence can effectively change an organization over time by rewarding those who buy into and promote the leaders style of leadership.
Promoting and Selecting Leaders: In addition to the above influence factors, leaders also are empowered to select and promote the leadership within the organization (Nahavandi, 2006). This provides them with a powerful tool to influence and effectively create an organizational following of their values and vision. By selecting leaders who mirror their values and leadership style, the leader is able to create a loyal and like minded leadership staff. While this may be an effective influence tool, the leader risks alienating key personnel and breeding doubts about their ability to lead if they utilize this form of influence in an unethical manner.
Modeling Behaviors:
Finally, leaders can also use their influence to model the behavior of their subordinates (Nahavandi, 2006). They achieve this by providing guidance and advise to their followers and by inviting others to participate in organizational team building activities. When leaders actively promote and encourage their followers to follow their examples they are effectively molding the future behaviors of their
Although, this is a great concept, it requires a great amount of effort on the leaders’ part. Unfortunately, some leaders do not feel the need to do this which may show in their lack of communication towards their workers. Showing self-control allows you to give attention wherever it may be needed. This could mean showing some form of appreciation and even encouragement to the employees when necessary. Being able to show some form of gratitude returns a mutual gain of trust. Being employed in a leadership role it’s necessary to apply some of these common strategies to use in a work place. When a worker feels more appreciated it begins to show within the company. After mastering the power of influence you’re able to gain a sense of authority. Authority is simply being able to get people to do what you want by your personal influence. On the other hand, you have power. This is usually accompanied by coercion, through the ability of applying force because of your position. The most common mistake to make is not knowing the difference between authority and power. Truly gaining authority is essentially carrying the power. Within Johns retreat, he is constantly learning the importance of humbleness as an effective
Leadership is the most discussed topic when it comes to business. There has been much research into leadership and it the effect it has on the followers. Leadership research has included various attributes that show the difference between leaders and non-leaders and the effect it has on the followers. Leadership is a process using socially acceptable behavior, including personality traits used to inspire individuals to reach a goal or objective. There have been many studies that shown individual characteristics including skills and abilities can predict leader effectiveness. This paper is designed to discuss the persuasive forms of leadership and how the persuasion can facilitate change.
Quoted by Ronald Reagan “The greatest leader is not necessarily the one who does the greatest things. He is the one that gets the people to do the greatest things.” A manager gets things done via planning and delegation. Tasks are usually assigned and results are obtained by other efforts. A leader gets things done by holding a vision, modeling behaviors and usually have very inspiring actions. A manager is defined as, “An individual who is in charge of a certain group or tasks” (Business Dictionary). A leader is defined as “The person who leads or commands a group, organizations” (Business Dictionary).
Antecedents that influence leadership include factors such as the leader’s personality and ethics, followers’ openness, and cultural norms. Furthermore, the leader’s behaviors affect the process. For example, a leader needs to be knowledgeable regarding an organization’s goals to effectively address and handle difficult situations. A servant leader assists followers in achieving purposes. A leader treats followers fairly and respects personal values. The leader helps followers learn to make choices. An ideal outcome is a favorable effect on the followers, organization, and community. The leader can determine which needs will help followers progress and plan to meet those needs through developing programs or obtaining funding (Northouse, 2016).Servant leadership is important for management because it affects employee’s productivity. While a manager requires work to be completed and appears unconcerned if an employee has a problem, the servant leader may help a follower so he or she can work successfully. For example, although a manager may penalize an employee for arriving late, a servant leader may ask the employee what he or she needs to arrive to work on time. After the leader and the employee successfully collaborate, the effect is that the manager is appeased and the employee keeps a job. A servant leader can help employees develop a supportive community
The book, Followership How followers are creating change and changing leaders, by Barbara Kellerman, publisher Harvard Business Press details an interpretation of followers with his or hers correlation to their managers. Kellerman portrays through her book from the leader-centric approach, which govern work on supervision and leadership. However, the book describes examples how a leader typically have power, authority, and influence over a stakeholder in settings of public, private and non-profit organizations sectors (Kellerman, 2008).
To inspire and influence others, a leader must possess many skills and abilities. As motivational speaker Peter Northouse, states, “a leader should be strong, but not rude; be kind, but not weak; be bold, but not bully; be thoughtful, but not lazy; be humble, but not timid; be proud, but not arrogant” (Northouse, 2013) Moving an entire group of individuals toward a singular goal is a considerable undertaking. Without effective communication skills and a clear vision of what needs to be accomplished, one will feel like they are trying to herd cats rather than leading.
Effective followership is an essential component of effective leadership in that, without good followers, the leader’s work is difficult and cumbersome. The role of the follower is many times understated. As illustrated by Kelley (1998), “effective followers are thinkers; energetic and assertive, self-starters, independent problem solvers, and carry out their tasks with these characteristics (p. 143). Effective followers also are characterized by their ability to perform tasks with little supervision, their intelligence, and ability to think for themselves. We are all followers, even those who consider themselves leaders; so to encourage this effectiveness in others; we must be role models for those under us, so that they may also be effective at following. Chaleff (2009) observed that “all important social accomplishments require complex
Reward power is often common in the workplace when employees are praised from meeting goals or deadlines, or just having doing something special for another coworker. Rewards can range from gift cards, commission, pay raises or even promotions depending on the case. Everyone likes being praised for their accomplishments, so this power is usually one of the common powers in large organizations with a large amount of employees. (Abudi, 2011)
In order for a leader to be a leader he/she must begin with the assumption that you are the one who matters most. As a leader you have to possess that level of confidence in yourself that you are capable of leading yourself “before you can lead others”. And when you develop this belief then you are better able of affirmative influence “on others”.
The leader and follower relationship is looked at as winners and losers, when it is actually a symbiotic association. (Chaleff) Leaders cannot exist without followers and followers cannot exist without a leader. Leaders can forget that they need the backing of a solid team of followers in order to succeed. Because they make the “important” decisions and enjoy an astronomical rate of pay, it is easy to overlook the loyal, hard working individuals that make everything happen under them. Followers too can forget that they are a valuable element of a successful organization, and that their feedback and ideas are welcome.
Within each organization there should be effective leaders who should be able to maintain an organization’s vision and mission. These leaders are part of the management that can effectively lead a growing organization to succeed. There are various tools such as character traits, influence, persuasion, and change which can help an effective leader manage. A manger/leader should be prepared to persuade and influence others by using their character traits. Theories of leadership, management, and influence and change will be a major topic in this paper. This paper will discuss each of the elements of leadership and management, and how influence, persuasion, and change can affect the outcome.
Leadership is about the interaction between the leader, the followers and the situation (Hughes, Ginnett and Curphy (2015, p. 15-26). If a given situation changes, the interaction between the leaders and followers can change dramatically. The leaders who understand well this interaction have a huge advantage because leaders are able to:
Leadership has been a topic that has been researched for a long time in many disciplines. Leadership as a personality focuses on the characteristics of an individual that gives them power to act as leaders. There is leadership as an attribution this approach views leadership as phenomenon that causes group of followers to have outcomes.(Wu et al, 2010, 90).Researchers have used the following approaches to study leadership; they are mainly trait, behavior, power influence, situation and integrative approaches. Trait approaches focuses on the characteristics, values, skill and personality of leaders. Behavior approaches is focused on the leaders behaviors, differentiating between the behavior of ineffective and effective leaders. Integrative approach combines all the approaches to have a holistic picture of the process, outcomes and determinants of leadership. The approach that this paper uses is situational approach that is not leader centered but more on the significance of the context as an influence of leadership. Leaders should be able to choose the leadership quality appropriate to a particular situation.
must influence others effectively. Being an influence to others can come in many different forms, and these forms can be best utilized in certain situations. The best way to influence others would be through communication, making this an essential skill for those wanting to become effective leaders. As a leader, one must adapt and refine any skills that are inadequate in order to better themselves and become a more efficient leader.
To have great leadership, there needs to be a leader-follower relationship. The relationship can’t be effective without inspiration, involvement, and support from both participants. To develop this alliance, the leader must give extra effort to reach out to followers. The only way a leader can be successful is if the follower trusts the leader. The most important characteristic of a leader is to set a good example for their followers.