LEADERS ISSUE 15
1 SEPTEMBER 2018
DIGEST
Increase Your Impact: Leading Through Influence
Leadership is Influence
Thai Cave Rescue - A Miracle or Leadership Energy in Action
Be A Powerful Influence
The Elements Of Persuasion: Influencing Through Dominance And Prestige
What Is The Connection Between Influence And Position? This fortnightly publication is dedicated to advancing civil service leadership and putting it into practice contemporary leadership principles.
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PUBLICATION TEAM Read this issue and past issues online at bit.ly/LEADSCS Scan the QR code below for quicker access:
EDITORIAL
Editor-in-Chief Segaren Assistant Editor Yvonne Lee Diana Marie Capel Graphic Designer Awang Ismail bin Awang Hambali Abdul Rani Haji Adenan
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CONTENTS
ISSUE 15 | 1 SEPTEMBER 2018
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Page 5
Page 7
Page 11
Page 15
Leadership is Influence
Thai Cave Rescue - A Miracle or Leadership Energy in Action
Be A Powerful Influence
The Elements Of Persuasion: Influencing Through Dominance And Prestige
What Is The Connection Between Influence And Position?
THE LEADER’S DIGEST IS A FORTNIGHTLY PUBLICATION BY LEADERSHIP INSTITUTE OF SARAWAK CIVIL SERVICE FEATURING ALL THE LATEST SURROUNDING THE TOPIC OF LEADERSHIP. THE PUBLICATION ALSO FEATURES SPECIALLY SELECTED WRITE-UPS RELATED TO EACH THEME OF THE ISSUE, THROUGH ITS CONTENT PARTNERS.
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LEADERSHIP IS INFLUENCE BY ROSHAN THIRAN
John Maxwell, a leadership guru, once said that “leadership is about influence. Nothing else”. Maxwell is right that influencing is a big part of leadership yet it is one of the hardest things to do. There was once, I was trying to get my son to eat his vegetables and was not winning the battle of getting the greens into his mouth. I was just about to badger him into submission by yelling out that he would not be able to play football with me, when I recalled an important lesson on influencing — influence does not work by threats and commands. In fact, I know the No. 1 rule of influencing someone (especially your children) is to make the vegetables more appealing by showcasing that everyone else is eating them.
So, I just told my son that all his friends were eating their vegetables and he would be the only one not doing so. He somehow seemed happy to chomp on his greens. People love to follow the crowd. No matter how much you believe that you are not influenced by others, the truth is we are influenced by what others are doing and saying. We tend to enjoy songs that others listen to – the best example being the Gangnam Style. We tend to dress like others. We are influenced all the time by all sorts of people and fads. This happen so often, we even tend to engage in unlawful acts when we see others do it. A few years ago, the crime rate in a town started to rise. There were warnings and threats issued and strict laws enacted. There were big “Do Not Steal” posters but these didn’t reduce the crime rate. In fact, crime became worse in those areas where warnings were posted. Finally, there was a smart campaign that highlighted that the majority of people did not steal.
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Surprisingly, the campaign worked. In London, a new campaign kicked off called the “99 percent”. The campaign had posters all over London stating that “99 percent of young Londoners DO NOT COMMIT serious violence”. And guess what happened? People were influence by these posters and crime started to decline. Influence is critical for our success in life and in business. So, how do you influence? There are numerous parts to influencing effectively. According to research done in Harvard by Nalini Ambady, it takes only six seconds for people to judge us. Ambady provided university students six seconds worth of footage (with no audio) of professors teaching and asked these students to rate the teachers. She kept the ratings and at the end of the semester, compared the six second ratings to the ratings from students who actually attend the full semester of classes of these professors. She found that even with six seconds, the students evaluations of the professors were amazingly similar (and accurate) to the ratings of students who underwent a full semester of classes. These six seconds are our window of influence. Body language, words, your appearance, harnessing the power of story-telling and using various means of concessions are all part of the influencing arsenal. But before we delve into how to influence, we need to understand what influence is.
WHAT IS INFLUENCE? According to Eric Lau, who is our Leaderonomics authority on influencing, claims that, “Influence is the ability to move others into action.” Whenever we can change someone’s thought process and convince them to pursue a course of action, we have exercised influence, hence demonstrated leadership. The heart of strategic influencing is to gain willing cooperation instead of mere compliance. It’s about getting others to follow us because they want to and not because they have to. Influencing moves work from being merely transactional to relational. The most effective way to influence others is first to build a relationship of trust. On Sept 18, 1978, in Jonestown Guyana, 909 followers of the People’s Temple, led by cult-leader Jim Jones, died by cyanide poisoning in what is called the largest mass-suicide in modern history. How did Jones come to command such enormous influence over his followers’ thoughts and actions? How did over 700 adults willingly feed themselves and 200 of their children with poison at the request of their leader? Social psychologists identified the ability to build relational trust as a key factor for cult-leaders’ massive influence. Jones was often described by his followers as someone who was loving and was deeply concerned about his followers’ wellbeing amidst his domineering and controlling personality. They loved him and trusted him completely. Here lies the powerful truth about influence: The level of influence you have on others is directly proportionate to the level of trust they have in you. And trust does not happen automatically. It is something you need to work on.
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INFLUENCING SECRETS There are a number of other “secrets” to enable you to become better at influencing. Alex Pentland, a professor at MIT, conducted an experiment where he attached digital recording devices to business leaders to monitor their speech and body language over the course of a social dinner. A week later, he was able to predict with 87% accuracy how these leaders would fare in a business presentation which was rated by judges. He did this without listening to a word of the presentation. How did he do it? A key part to influencing others, especially judges or interviewers, is not what you say but how you portray yourself. Are you confident, passionate, single-minded and committed to the cause you are presenting? The delivery of your message may be much more important than what is said. Remember, Ambady’s earlier research showed us that people only need six seconds to make pretty an accurate judgment about you. So, how do you learn to ensure your body language and the signals it sends help you to influence better?
SMILE MORE? Surprisingly, many believe that smiling more helps you to influence better as you come across as warm and personable. Research, though, shows that smiling makes no difference to your ability to better influence (although the strength of a person’s smile has a positive effect on customer satisfaction in the service industry). Neither does body posture. Nor hand movement. So, what are factors that make a difference? The most important body part for influencing is your eye. Research from the University of Toronto stipulates that “eye contact is magnetic.” Eye contact with each other signals attraction and creates a link that pulls people together. So, while trust may take time to build, having eye contact with people you interact with at work and socially is something that can be easily done. Yet, many of us shy away from having conversation with each other and ensuring eye contact. So, start this new year by using your eyes to start influencing others.
FINAL THOUGHTS All of us are influencing people or are being influenced in some way or form every day of our lives. Building trust gives you the seed of influence. But more than that, your body language plays a big part in how people view and judge you. Learn to use your eye contact and learn to include stories into your presentations and discussions. Everyone needs to influence every day. Learning to influence will only help you to become a better leader.
Roshan is CEO of the Leaderonomics Group. He believes that everyone can be a leader and make a dent in the universe, in their own special ways.
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Thai Cave Rescue - A Miracle or Leadership Energy in Action?
BY LALIT GUPTA
A remarkable story of courage and resilience.
On 23 June 2018, 12 young members of the Wild Boars soccer team and their novice monk-turned-assistant soccer coach from a small town on the Thailand-Myanmar border went missing. They were remarkably discovered alive ten days later. This sparked an extraordinary saga of international cooperation, ingenuity, and compassion. Experts from many fields planned how to maneuver them out of their predicament. 12 young soccer players, aged between 10 to 16 years, and their coach were stuck in the Tham Luang cave, for 10 days. They were stuck about 2.5 miles inside the cave, which was dark and flooded with murky rainwater, with no contact with the
outside world and little hope of rescue. Yet they survived and were calm and smiling when they met with the first rescuers after 10 days of confinement that was characterised by limited food and water but filled with uncertainty and hopelessness. It took a total of 18 days, which seemed like a lifetime before they were all rescued. Was it a miracle or can it be attributed to something else? An “all-star� team of expert divers and navy seals from at least six countries worked on the mission to find and rescue the team. A daring rescue mission in the treacherous confines of a flooded Thai cave. At certain points,
the underwater crevices through which people had to squeeze were barely wide enough to accommodate an adult human body. Each arduous roundtrip extraction took between 9 and 11 hours. The operation also claimed one life: Saman Gunan, a 38-year-old former Navy SEAL who volunteered to help in the search and rescue. He died after carrying air tanks into the flooded cave, losing consciousness underwater after running out of air himself. What makes Navy SEALs work relentlessly in the face of resistance and such overwhelming odds? Is it just a job for them or is there more to it?
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Navy SEALs and the art of not giving up
leadership is required today, more than ever before.
Navy SEALs are the most elite of the defence forces. “How do you find the right people for this elite force?”, a Navy SEAL commander was once asked. He answered, “We are not looking for the most athletic or the brainiest of the lot. We put them through some of the toughest physical and mental routines. When they are physically and mentally spent, there are some candidates that can dig deep and find energy to protect and save themselves and their teams. Those are the kind of people that make it to the Navy SEAL team”.
The Wild Boars’ miraculous survival and mindfulness
What’s the source of Navy SEAL’s long-lasting energy? Is it resilience? Is it mental toughness? Is it tenacity? Or, is it just good old perseverance?
How do you survive such an arduous ordeal? How are you able to stay calm and be able to smile at the end of it?
Leadership thinker Rajeev Peshawaria in his book, Open Source Leadership, calls it Leadership Energy. The difference between leaders and non-leaders is simply this – Leaders don’t give up. They have the ability to continue in the face of overwhelming odds, when others would falter. Leaders don’t give up because they are able to dig deep and find their leadership energy – they find the source of their leadership energy through a slow and deliberate process of self-reflection and self-discovery. There are two primary sources – deep clarity about your values and a purpose based on those values. And then there is a third reinforcing source – mindfulness. In our study of great leaders, past and present, mindfulness is regularly practiced by a large number of them. True leadership is not about a title, position or power. It is about finding the source of your own leadership energy and working relentlessly towards a worthy cause. The Navy SEALs epitomise true and authentic leadership. This kind of authentic 6
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The members of the Wild Boars Soccer team, the young Thai boys, and their assistant coach were stuck in the cave with no light and limited food supply for 10 days before they were first discovered by the British divers. Such an ordeal is terrifying to say the least, and full of anxiety, fear and hopelessness. When they were greeted for the first time by the rescue team, they were not crying or in a state of panic. Astonishingly, they were found to be calm and smiling.
It turns out that their coach, Ekapol Chantawong, who led them to hike inside the Tham Luang cave, had trained in meditation as a Buddhist Monk for a decade before becoming the soccer coach. According to multiple news sources, he taught the boys to meditate in the cave to keep them calm and preserve their energy during their 18-day ordeal. What is mindfulness? Simply put, it is ‘Attention with Intention’. The practice of mindfulness is all about creating focus on your breath or on sensations in your body parts. And when your mind wanders off, you gently bring your attention back to the focal point. When this is done repeatedly, the mind gets used to focusing, and bringing the focus back on intention. Similar to a physical workout, this is a gym for your mind and the more you exercise it, the better your mind gets at it. As a result, you get better at paying attention. You can make choices and exercise free will regardless of your life situation. You can decide the best
course of action based upon reason and compassion, as opposed to emotion. Psychologist B.F. Skinner once said – “Between stimulus and response there is space. In that space, is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom”. The practice of mindfulness can help you to create a pause between stimulus and response. It moves you from reacting to responding. Panic, anger and shouting are signs of reacting that can lead to unnecessary loss of energy and no constructive output. Are you reacting or responding? Are you able to pay attention to what’s happening in and around your life and intentionally make the choice? Because that’s where the opportunities lie for you to exercise freedom of choice and discover potential for learning and growth. The stress, anxiety and uncertainty that we face in our professional and personal lives is in no way greater than that faced by the young Thai boys in that cave during those uncertain 10 days. We can learn from their experience that the practice of mindfulness can be instrumental in our ability to overcome stress and anxiety in our everyday lives.
Lalit Gupta, Chief Marketing Officer Lalit has over 30 years of extensive business leadership experience and has led strategy formulation, execution and change initiatives across countries in Asia Pacific and Japan. Lalit is also a mindfulness practitioner for over 8 years and believes that regular practice of mindfulness is imperative to lead a fulfilling and meaningful life and is more required today than ever before. Lalit brings real world experience to Leadership Development and Corporate Governance and is a well-respected thought leader.
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Be A Powerful Influence
BY EVA CHRISTODOULOU
Influencing is about inspiring, motivating, or in some way, compelling others to move in a certain direction.
To help you think through these points, here is a guide on understanding the way you interact with others, and how to influence people.
Some individuals are naturally great at this. Others find it very hard to influence the behaviours and actions of others. This may be due to an inability to connect, lack of credibility, or perhaps just bad communication.
First, understand your natural tendencies
Self-awareness is an essential place to start when examining your ability to influence. How do you interact with others? Would you yield better influence outcomes if you diverted from your natural tendencies? You may also be surprised at your ability to influence if you paid more attention to the personalities of others, and to your communication methods.
To learn how to be a powerful influence on others, a good place to begin is by understanding the way you naturally interact with others. Of course, this may differ between the various groups of people you interact with. For example, you may be a more relaxed, forgiving and softer critic when it comes to your children, but much more aggressive, assertive and strict when it comes to the workplace. In general, if no conscious effort is made to control the way you react in different
situations, chances are that you will react in a way that is compatible with your character traits. If, for example, I am an anxious person, I am likely to exhibit anxiety in the way I communicate with others and focus on unwanted consequences, unless I consciously control this. So it’s important to understand our natural tendencies by assessing our character. Consequently, it is also important to assess how much we control these natural tendencies. How do we react to different groups of people? There are many questions you can ask yourself, and many quizzes out there that help you identify your natural tendencies.
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Being aggressive increases your influence, however it does so by exploiting the element of fear in others. Being assertive is the most balanced of the three and often gives the best results. Which one are you? Consider the implications of your natural style, and how you can be more effective in the way you influence others.
How to influence team mates Now that you have a greater sense of self-awareness, consider how you work in a group setting. Here is a summary of the different roles one can take in a team. Which one are you? FUTURIST
Here’s a question to ask yourself: Question: It is year-end appraisal time, your boss gives you an appraisal that is below your expectation. What do you do next? a) You go back home and pour out your frustrations to those close to you. b) You calmly seek clarifications with your boss and share with him your perspective on the matter. c) In frustration, you leave your bosses’ office and tell your colleagues how unfair and unreasonable your boss is. Question: You spot a “typo” error in an important document done by your subordinate. What do you do next? a) You ignore it as you think it is a minor mistake. b) You alert your subordinate of the mistake and have him make changes. c) You tell your subordinate that such mistakes are not acceptable and he should not repeat this. 8
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Positive: The Futurist is a visionary and focuses on the big picture. This person looks at the long-term objectives, desired results and the general direction of the team and its systems. As such, the Futurist provides a sense of mission, purpose, direction and leadership that others cannot. If your answer is (a) in both scenarios, this indicates you are more of a passive, hesitant influencer. If your answer is (c), it shows that you are more aggressive. Those who choose (b) as their answers have a tendency to interact with others in a confident and assertive manner. To increase your chances of a wellrounded, more accurate assessment of your influencing tendencies, ask a trusted friend, colleague or relative how they perceive you. Once you’ve established the way you interact with others, it’s useful to understand the three styles of influencing behaviour: passive, assertive and aggressive. The table below describes each style in detail and how people with these tendencies can be perceived. On the “Influencing Response Scale”, being passive tends to diminish your influencing power. It can increase stress levels as well.
Negative: The Futurist often ignores important details and fails to do what is important to get things done. GO-GETTER Positive: The Go-Getter is one who can be most relied on to accomplish a task. He/she is a hard worker, often pushes through and has a high level of expertise to get things done. Negative: In his/her desire to get things done, the Go-Getter often neglects the contributions of others and may be seen as tough to work with. COORDINATOR Positive: The Coordinator works very well with people. He/she often tries to ensure that processes are established and adhered to. When disagreements happen, the Coordinator will often step in to solve the issues by getting all parties involved to discuss their differences.
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Negative: In his/her concern to get the processes right and to please everyone, the Coordinator often fails to complete things on time. ANALYSER Positive: The Analyser is often the “heart” or conscience of the team. He/ she reviews the team’s decisions and analyses them against the common purpose to ensure that the team stays on track. They often provide the ethical and procedural direction that the team needs. Negative: The Analyser is often in a reactive mode waiting to “catch” the mistakes of others. He/she is often not seen as someone who will initiate anything. If you’re determined to be a more influential team member, identify the personalities of each of your team members. This will help you understand how you can best influence their actions.
For instance, if you are a Futurist and like to focus on long-term objectives, you may clash with a Go-Getter who just wants to get things done. To get the Go-Getter alongside you, translate the big picture you see into steps that can be accomplished. This will fulfil the cravings of the Go-Getter to see tasks through to completion. Likewise, if you are a Coordinator working with a Futurist, work with the natural tendencies of the Futurist. Let your passion for process complement the direction and big picture the Futurist sees. Help him or her understand the systems required to fulfil the long-term goals. The table below explains how each personality type can engage with other personalities more effectively. Try it with your team mates.
The art of delegation and empowerment If you’re leading a team, delegation of tasks and empowerment of team members will be an essential part of your role. This is part and parcel of influence, as you are moving others to act in a specific way. It also indicates the value and trust you place on others. However, delegating can be futile, and very frustrating for those you lead, if details aren’t clear. The delegation process should ideally follow these steps:
For delegation to be successful, also consider the following things: • • • •
The knowledge, skill and experience of the individual The current work load of the individual Does the individual have adequate support to execute the task well? Has sufficient authority been given?
If such elements aren’t properly thought about, delegation of tasks to individuals may not only result in unmet goals, but call into question the effectiveness of the influence you are attempting to exercise on the team.
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Communication tips
3. Remember to listen
To powerfully influence, you can’t neglect the importance of authentic, effective communication either. Here are tips to bear in mind as you communicate and interact with others.
Last but not least, authentic communication demands effective listening. Once again, this seems simple enough, however we tend to not listen properly when interacting with others.
1. Always aim for communication
interactive
There are two types of communication: one-way communication and interactive communication. When possible, interactive communication should be the preferred method to use. Examples of one-way communication at work include memos, policies, manuals and press releases. Sometimes, information is best delivered through a one-way channel of communication. However, interactive communication has the benefit of increasing your influencing power. The opportunity to ask and answer questions, clarify any points that may be unclear and address concerns is invaluable, as it enables the distributor of information to build the case for the information and ensure everyone is on board.
Whether it is that we are too fixed on our opinion of the subject matter, or that we are too preoccupied with other thoughts, not listening carefully reduces our influencing power as it diminishes our communication effectiveness. We tend to miss key pieces of information, and in the case of our not-so-straight-forward colleagues' underlying messages. So as you seek to strengthen your influence on others, first start from the point of self-awareness. Consider the way you naturally interact with others, and the effectiveness of your communication. Then increase your awareness of others. Understand the way they tick, and what they need to successfully carry out tasks you give them to do. These points lie at the foundation of inspiring, motivation and compelling others to action.
But interactive communication alone is not enough to increase the influencing power. Overcoming communication filters, is also an important part of effective communication.
Identify filters that could be shielding the effectiveness of your communication and work to eliminate them.
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FOR
THOSE WHO
WORK - John Powell
Filters could be either external, like noise or distractions, or internal, such as emotional baggage and cultural background.
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AT IT.
2. Eliminate communication filters
Elements like noise can be dealt with by better choice of location, equipment or just better timing. Internal filters like emotional baggage, are tougher. However, they can be overcome by discussion and raising awareness of the existence of these internal filters.
COMMUNICATION
Eva is the Research & Development leader at Leaderonomics. She believes that everyone can be the leader they would like to be, if they are willing to put in the effort and are curious to learn along the way, as well as with some help from the people around them.
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The Elements Of Persuasion: Influencing Through Dominance And Prestige BY DR EUGENE YJ TEE
We are status-conscious beings. We constantly observe and compare ourselves to those around us, identifying individuals who have more, or less influence than we do.
Game of Thrones all have in common with Apple’s visionary messiah, Steve Jobs?
Leadership – and the distinction between who leads and who follows – appears universal across human societies. We easily categorise people into ‘leaders’ and ‘followers’ when it comes to groups.
Jobs was famously known for having vision and foresight. Infamously, however, he was also known for his temper and mercilessness. Jobs’ biographer, Walter Isaacson referred to these two sides of the famous leader simply as ‘Good Steve’ and ‘Bad Steve’.
The ability to influence effectively rests at the very core of effective leadership. We are captivated, literally, by individuals who influence effectively.
The ruthless effectiveness of Jobs’ leadership was as much a feature of his legacy, as was the admiration of the people that worked with him.
We are enthralled by the personality, skill, and achievements of effective leaders, and even craft stories around them.
"Like the fictional leaders we see in our favourite television dramas, effective leadership embodies a common theme. The best leaders are able to effectively leverage two key power bases: dominance and prestige."
What do Frank and Claire Underwood from House of Cards, Don Draper from Madmen, and Daenerys Targaryen from
Power base: Dominance
Dominance and prestige are two sides of the same leadership coin. They represent the two central bases for power on which leaders incite or influence change in another’s behaviour. Leaders who base their power on dominance influence others by exerting threats, coercion, forcefulness, or even aggression and physical intimidation towards their targets. You can think of authoritarian, “Do as I say, or else” bosses as examples of leaders who lead by dominance. These leaders also often rely on formal authority and official rank as a means of influence. Dominance-focused leaders tend to rely on their ability to mete out punishment and threats, or their ability to offer desired rewards to followers who willingly fall in line. Issue 15 | September 2018
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It should perhaps come as little surprise that while such leaders can command a following, they do so in a rather transactional manner. Dominancebased leaders lead by fear and forcing compliance from their followers. Dictators, tyrants, and leaders adopting autocratic styles of leadership are examples of leadership by dominance; from historical figures such as Genghis Khan, to your corporate boss from hell that resembles Miranda Priestly from The Devil Wears Prada.
Power base: Prestige
In contrast, leaders who base their power on prestige influence others primarily on the basis of knowledge, expertise, personal respect, and deference. Compared with dominance-based leaders, prestige-based leaders rely primarily on informal authority. This informal authority may be based around specialised skill, connections to powerful parties or stakeholders, or even personal qualities and ideals. While intangible, these qualities and resources are valued by followers and targets of influence. The one key distinction that separates a dominance-based leader from a prestige-based one, however, is that willingness to follow a prestige-based leader is freely conferred. Followers willingly follow prestigebased leaders, when they may only begrudgingly do so with a dominance12
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based leader. Followers may even aspire to be like their leader, making admiration, respect, or hope – not fear – the guiding emotion for prestige-based leadership. Martin Luther King and former United States president Barack Obama are typically referred to as good examples of leadership by prestige; personal magnetism and charisma exemplify this form of leadership.
It’s never one or the other
Dominance and prestige, are, however, not mutually exclusive. Effective leaders know when to lean more towards one approach over the other depending on the demands of the situation. Perhaps the ability to alternate and decide which side of the leadership coin to flip to is most important in the context of persuasion, negotiation, and conflict resolution. When leaders lead negotiations in complex make-or-break situations with competing organisations, for instance, their ability to use dominance and prestige strategically becomes an integral factor in determining the negotiation outcome. Understanding these two power bases also raises an important consideration for aspiring leaders, or those who are subject to the leader’s influence – individuals without formal authority can still be influential. One can lead and influence – despite not having the formal title of ‘leader’.
Dominance, prestige, and the politics of influence The commonly-referenced ThomasKilmann model suggests five ways in which parties can negotiate and attempt to persuade the other.
The model lists five different strategies, depending on the extent to which one wishes to emphasise the issue at hand, or the relationship with the other party. When should leaders use each approach? Well, it really depends on the nature of the conflict situation, and the dominance or prestige power bases you currently possess. Negotiation, persuasion, and conflict resolution, in this sense, seems like a careful, calculated, and deeply strategic game of cards – one that involves both parties playing multiple rounds, and deciding whether to use a dominance card, or a prestige one.
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1. Avoiding Avoidance of the situation and opposing party can be used when the issue is of minimal importance, trivial, or when it would be cost-ineffective and timeconsuming to resolve. This strategy is used if one has generally low concern for the task, and low concern for the relationship with the opposing party. If engaging with the opposing party is likely to result in a worse outcome or net loss for both, then discretion may be the better part of valour. In this case, the situation is kept at a status quo; both parties avoid playing any of their dominance or prestige cards against the other. Avoidance may also be a prudent decision if you know that the opposing party holds more cards than you do, or if showing your hand too early on will quickly, or permanently, place you at a severely disadvantaged bargaining position. Effective leaders and negotiators may choose to avoid the situation if it allows them to accumulate better resources – to acquire a better hand, so to speak – before attempting any form of negotiation with the opposite party at a later time. 2. Accommodating When you value the relationship with the other party, and the primary concern would be to maintain or enhance ties with other, then accommodating is the preferred negotiation strategy.
may also strategically be used to signal control over the situation. Accommodating conveys a trade of dominance for prestige, and yet, unbeknownst to the other party, the conceding party could still be holding a very powerful hand. 3. Forcing Forcing is an approach used when the primary concern is the substantive outcome of the negotiation.
When compromising, both parties acknowledge that neither has a good hand, or suspect that both their hands are equally matched. In such gridlock situations, contributing to the pool does little to change either party’s perceptions of dominance or prestige towards the other.
A hardball tactic, forcing is persuading by playing a dominance card. Forcing the situation is a viable strategy to limit potential future losses.
Compromising can be used to buy time before the next round of negotiations, and is associated with perspectivetaking, empathy, and caution.
Leaders might use forcing under circumstances where the other party cannot (or should not) be trusted, or when the opposite party is likely to exploit concessions or take advantage of accommodating tactics.
5. Collaborating Collaborating is an approach for negotiating stand-offs, complex issues or situations that are high in degree of importance, and with potentially major outcomes for both parties.
This dominance-focused tactic also works better when you have access or control of resources places – you are in a comparatively advantageous position relative to that of your negotiation counterpart.
Both the task and relationship in such situations are highly valued.
As such, forcing tends to work better when the other party believes that you have a better hand than they do. In negotiation terms, the expression used is having a strong BATNA (Best Alternative to Negotiated Agreement), where you can walk away from the negotiation table and suffer little to no repercussions.
Accommodating works particularly well if the other party values the relationship as much as you do, and can be trusted.
Playing the forcing card asserts control and establishes limits, and is associated with emotions such as anger and disappointment.
This approach can also be used when conceding now can result in a comparatively more favourable pay-off later on.
Some research studies show that negotiators get better deals when they express anger, than when they express positive emotions while negotiating.
Accommodating essentially builds prestige-based relational resources, signalling to the opposing party that you wish to deal further with them in the future.
4. Compromising A middle–of–the–road strategy, compromising on the situation is a viable, temporary stop-gap measure for when the negotiation scenario becomes excessively heated or emotional.
Expressing generosity and conceding conveys empathy and compassion, but
has moderate levels of concern for the issue and relationship. You can think of compromising as a ceasefire strategy to prevent further escalation of conflict.
Collaborating is also more viable when the negotiating leader has both the time and resources to discuss alternatives and explore pathways that mutually benefit both parties. Out of all the approaches, collaborating is the only one that results in a win-win outcome. Both parties preserve, if not enhance their dominance and prestige from having negotiated the outcome. Both parties play their cards and end up walking away with more money than they invested in the first place. Doesn’t this violate the rules of the card game? No – the game was never zerosum to begin with. Negotiations, unlike competitive games, don’t always need to end with a clear ‘winner’ and ‘loser’. Collaboration involves ‘enlarging the pie’ – expanding the range of outcomes so that both parties can win. Effective leaders know that unlike zerosum games, negotiation systems and conflict situations can themselves be gamed – resulting in win-win outcomes.
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...from Page 13 A summary of the negotiation tactics, depending on the power base and situation, is provided in the following table: Use Accommodating when…
Use Forcing when…
Use Compromising when…
Use Collaborating when…
…the opposing party has more dominance and/ or prestige than you.
…trading dominance for prestige will likely lead to an optimal outcome.
…trading prestige for dominance will likely lead to an optimal outcome.
…you and the opposing party are evenly matched on dominance and prestige.
…both parties have dominance and prestige resources for prolonged negotiation.
…the situation is of minor or trivial concern.
…you value the relationship with the other party over the substantive issues of the negotiation.
…the other party cannot or should not be trusted, or if the situation is a win-at-all-costs confrontation.
…you need more time to gather influence or information regarding the situation.
…the situation is complex, and it’s important that a mutuallybeneficial resolution is reached.
…you can afford to give up some dominance and still maintain the upper hand in the situation.
…you are in a better position relative to the opposing party, and have access to favourable alternatives.
…the situation is at a gridlock and using either accommodating or forcing will escalate the situation.
…both parties have the time, and are willing to seek a mutuallybeneficial outcome.
Use Avoiding when…
Power Base
Situation
…attempting to resolve the situation will lead to a worse outcome than if you ignored it.
A guide to persuading and influencing When it comes to persuading and negotiating, the card game analogy works as a general guide to deciding which strategy to use – given the nature of the situation, and the cards you hold on hand. Here are some tips on influencing more effectively. 1. Identify your power bases Are you someone who relies more on dominance or prestige as a means of leading and persuading others? Identifying the dominance and prestige cards you have on hand is an essential first step in knowing how much negotiation latitude (i.e. power) you have. Fortunately, the ability to influence does not rely solely on dominance. Remember that formal authority and titles don’t always make a leader influential. If you are in a position where you can leverage on informal sources of power – say, by having some specialised skill, expertise, or strong relationships with powerful others, then you can do so to compensate for having relatively lower formal power. 2. Build your prestige If you had to choose to emphasise one power base over the other, choose to build and accumulate prestige. 14
Issue 15 | September 2018
Studies suggest that prestige-based leadership provides a stronger, longer-lasting basis for influence than dominance-based leadership. While dominance-based approaches may be more effective in forcing compliance in the short-run, they are often damaging to the influence potential and reputation of leaders in the long-run. Dominance-focused leadership also tends to inhibit follower trust and commitment relative to prestige-based leadership. Dominance without prestige is oftentimes indistinguishable from tyranny. 3. Understand the situation as best you can Negotiation and persuasion attempts often fail because both parties lack a sufficient understanding of the situation.
4. Determine the optimal outcome What’s the ideal outcome from this negotiation? Is a win-win situation possible? If a mutually-beneficial outcome can be obtained, both parties might explore this possibility, and adopt a collaboration approach when negotiating. Of course, there will be times when leaders need to force compliance, or concede, resulting ultimately in a winlose outcome. Some complex conflicts can be longdrawn out and take years to resolve. For such situations, regular early concessions – ideally from both parties – may be necessary initial steps to take towards an optimal resolution. 5. Match your power base with the nature of the situation Once you have understood the dominance and prestige cards you have on hand, have as much information on the situation as you possibly can. Determine the optimal outcome from this negotiation situation, and then (and only then) make your move.
Tying it together
Considering these factors makes the negotiation situation seem more like a strategic, calculated effort – and many times it is. Negotiation and persuasion are essential skills for every leader, and with a little more mindful deliberation and strategising, we can all develop better ways to influence more effectively. Hopefully for the greater good.
You may not be able to gain a complete understanding of the situation; the other party’s hand is often all but concealed to you. In some instances, it may pay to adopt a ‘wait-and-see’ strategy, to compromise while collecting additional information. Doing so helps optimise your next negotiation or persuasion move. Acting without fully understanding the nuances of the situation may instead result in impulsive decisions, escalating tensions, and animosity between the negotiating parties.
Dr Eugene YJ Tee is a senior lecturer at the Department of Psychology, HELP University. He conducts academic research in the area of discrete emotions and emotional intelligence.
LEADERS
DIGEST
What Is The Connection Between
Influence And Position?
BY ROHINI RAJARATNAM
Influence is the capacity to have an effect on the character, development or the behaviour of someone or something. This shouldn’t be confused with authority, as authority is closer to control than leading. What is so important about having influence? To be a leader, you must at least be followed by people, and generally people will follow the one most influential. When in a position and having the power of influence, you have a choice to either be a positive or negative influence. What you may have realised is once you authentically choose to be a positive leader, your relationship with your surroundings dramatically changes. Though you can’t always do the right thing, by being a good example to others, you will eventually create a ripple effect and see others mirroring you. So how do you use your position for good?
1. BELIEVE IN A VISION A true leader believes in a vision. When someone truly believes in something, it oozes from his mannerism and he just bursts with passion when he talks about it. This is something people easily pick up on, and the mere burst of confidence tend to encourage others to believe in their vision too. Most people will eventually mirror the confidence their leaders have. 2. SELF-CONCEPT AND IDENTITY The self-concept and identity theory of influence works by casting a certain identity on a person whereby the person is influenced by it and turns that identity into a reality. Take for example when you tell someone that he will be successful and great. As soon as the person hears this statement—especially if it’s coming from someone in a leadership position and is well-respected—when said with full confidence, the idea will be ingrained into the subconscious mind of the listener. Eventually his actions will be based on becoming something great, which in turn changes the influence into a reality. 3. STAY NEUTRAL AND OBJECTIVE When life gives you lemons, make lemonade! Difficult times are also the most influential times. When going through a rough patch, you navigate through with hope and optimism (this is also when people look up to you as a role model).
When the facts seems daunting, if you remain neutral and objective as opposed to being emotional and subjective, a positive influence is then attached. 4. RESPOND, DON’T REACT When a negative comment is said about you, do you immediately want to give a stinging reply, rush to your own defence or complain to others? Pausing to regain your composure and to think objectively in such situations is vital before you reply. Responding, instead of reacting means you take the emotional charge out of the situation, incident or problem. PARTING THOUGHTS As a leader with a position, you have the advantage of being considered as a role model. Perhaps, you could seize the opportunity to enable the less fortunate and disabled too. For example, fast food chain McDonald’s has it in their employment policy to not discriminate and actually hire the disabled. This policy has been rather successful by giving the disabled hope and indirectly showing the society that we shouldn’t look down on them. With that, use your position to be a good influence and sit back and watch the ripple of goodness!
Rohini believes in the magical powers of coffee. She also believes that the workplace should be fun and fulfilling!
Issue 15 | September 2018
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