In a Nutshell
You can't manage others
if you can't or won't influence them. Influencing others is a fundamental
managerial activity. Being effective at influencing others usually
doesn't mean using your leverage to push them around ... but sometimes
it does. The best managers actually use a range of influence
tactics. When possible, they reason
with their staff, peers, superiors, etc. to get the cooperation needed.
However, in some circumstances, offering something in exchange
for cooperation works best. Sometimes managers simply have to use
pressure to get what they need, even
though it can strain relationships. Effective managers are also able
to resist inappropriate influence attempts from others.
In This Issue
Interpersonal Influence
Strategies
You can't be an effective
manager if you don't influence others. The definition of a manager
in many textbooks is "someone who gets things done through and with others."
That's clearly an oversimplification, but it demonstrates how essential
influencing others is to getting managerial work accomplished.
Having said that, I should
also point out that influencing isn't synonymous with effective management.
As I mentioned in the September
12 LeaderLetter, building power bases shouldn't be a manager's
primary focus, but managers have to have at least some form of power to
be able to do their jobs. The same principle applies to influence
(which is the exercise of power); influencing others doesn't prove that
a manager is effective, but failure to influence others is often the cause
of managerial ineffectiveness.
Choosing the right influence
strategy is also a key to managing effectively. Reasoning with someone
to get them to comply with your wishes has a lot of advantages as an influence
strategy, but there are also circumstances in which it's more appropriate
to use some form of exchange or pressure to get cooperation.
Reason.
When feasible, the best way to influence others is reason. Managers
who primarily use reason to influence others garner more respect and support
in their organizations. Using reason to influence others simply means
explaining to them why it's important or helpful for them to do what they're
being asked to do and relying on their sense of responsibility and conscientiousness
to comply. It's feasible to use reason when your relationship with
the other party is one of mutual trust and respect, and there's sufficient
time to explain your request. Reason also requires some degree of
common values and priorities between the parties. If you request
that someone do something because it would "save the company money," "make
the client happy," or "reduce employee turnover," that person will only
be motivated to comply with your request to the extent that they care about
those outcomes.
Exchange.
Exchange influence strategies include all the ways we get people to do
things by engaging in some sort of trade. Putting an incentive on
a certain goal and offering a bonus for a particular assignment are examples
of exchange strategies. Ingratiation is a more subtle and potentially
manipulative way to use an exchange to influence others. Ingratiation
is giving gifts or performing favors to foster a sense of indebtedness
in another party. Later, when you want that party to do something
for you, that sense of indebtedness can either consciously or unconsciously
influence their decision. The advantage of exchange over reason is
that you don't have to justify your request--as long as the other party
wants what you have to offer they'll comply. Exchange works even
when the party you're trying to influence doesn't have the same values
and priorities that you do. Exchange strategies answer the "What's
in it for me?" question. Of course, the problem is that you have
to give something to the other party, such as some form of reward or incentive.
Furthermore, once you start using incentives to get compliance, people
will expect you to offer them inducements when you try to influence them
in the future. A drawback specific to the ingratiation strategy is
that it can actually cause the opposite of the intended effect if the plan
becomes obvious, because people resent being manipulated.
Pressure.
Pressure influence strategies involve coercion or intimidation. People
comply with these strategies to avoid the negative consequences of not
doing so. Sometimes those negative consequences are clearly stated
(i.e., coercion), other times they're implied (i.e., intimidation).
Some examples of the range of negative consequences that you could use
include quitting and leaving someone (e.g., your boss) in a bind, firing
someone, docking their pay, requiring overtime, or embarrassing them publicly.
The advantage of pressure is that it can be get quick compliance, but that's
about all I can say in defense of pressure. Pressure tends to create
insecurity, resentment, and distrust. It should be used as a last
resort.
In summary, reason, exchange,
and pressure are used to influence others in organizations. Whenever
we can use the reason strategy to influence others, we probably should.
Exchange can also be effective, and it's particularly useful when parties
have different values and priorities. Pressure can be effective too,
but it should be practiced with the utmost care.
Practicing This Management Skill
About the Photo
As Dallas Cowboys linebacker
Dexter Coakley (right) attempts to tackle Philadelphia Eagles running back
Duce Staley, Staley uses his power and leverage to stop him, during a National
Football League game in Philadelphia, September 22, 2002. The Eagles easily
defeated the Cowboys, 44-13. (REUTERS/Tim Shaffer: e-mailed to me
from Yahoo News!, www.news.yahoo.com.)
Source
Whetten, D. A., & Cameron,
K. S. (2002). Developing management skills, (5th ed.).
Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice-Hall.
About the Newsletter
and Subscriptions
LeaderLetter is written
by Dr. Scott Williams, Department of Management, Raj
Soin College of Business, Wright State University, Dayton, Ohio.
It is a supplement to my MBA 751 - Managing People in Organizations class.
It is intended to reinforce the course concepts and maintain communication
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