Leading with Influence

In an increasingly complex world the chances are that leaders will have to deal with stakeholders beyond their immediate “control”. Projects often involve more than one organization working together according to the requirements of the business. Inside organizations, whether a particular task is successful or not will depend to a large extent on how leaders can engage people beyond their team. No longer being able to simply command or instruct others, leaders have to be able to influence. So how can leaders influence? An answer can be found in Cialdini’s book “Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion” (2006) Collins Business Essentials.

Here’s how to influence along with further considerations (“et alors”)

Leading with Influence

Cialdini is a social psychologist whose extensive research into behavior amongst “compliance professionals” led to the conclusion that there are six key “principles” of influencing:

1. Reciprocity

People are uncomfortable with feeling indebted. There is therefore a feeling of obligation to offer concessions to others if concessions have already been received.

2. Commitment

People have a strong desire to be consistent. For this reason, once committed to something, people are then more inclined to go through with it as it has become “congruent with self-image”.

3. Social Proof

People assume that if other people are already doing something then it must be OK. Providing this so-called “social proof” can convince uncertain bystanders.

4. Liking

People are more likely to be influenced by those whom they like. Trust is a key factor of likeability, but people might like others simply because they have received compliments from them!

5. Authority

People will more likely accept the opinion of an expert. The authority referred to here can be likened to credibility – the more of which the person has, the more able they are to influence.

6. Scarcity

People are motivated by potential loss as well as potential gain. If something is limited in its availability and the “opportunity” might be lost, the perceived scarcity can increase demand.

Et alors

Leaders require a lot of energy to convince and persuade people that a particular project or task is the one that people should follow! Any help a leader can get in order to influence should be welcome; however using these principles can come across as somewhat disingenuous if they are not used with discretion. Focusing on a short-term “win” at the expense of a long-term relationship might not be a good idea: reputations take a life-time to build and only a moment to lose! These influencing “principles” should therefore be used with care. Further, if people are persuaded to do things that are bad for them, it can be considered as “manipulation” rather than “influence” (with the former being unethical). As Drucker said, “leaders do the right thing” and in this context, the “principles” of influence can certainly help a leader in the increasingly complex world!