Leadership 5

LEADERSHIP’S POWER AND INFLUENCE

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Everyone is born with leadership capabilities and the naturals carry the power to influence the latency in others.
Effective leaders know how to influence people.
In most organizations, its not about authority, it's about influence.

THE NINE SPHERES OF LEADER INFLUENCE

Definition
In politics, a sphere (bubble) of influence is typically defined as the cultural, economic, military or political influence a state exerts over another state.
Similarly, powerful leaders have a sphere of influence used on the people around them.

THE SPHERE OF AUTHORITY
Authority is defined as a legitimate right to exercise influence based on one's position within an organization. It works best in large bureaucratic organizations and is a major mechanism of political leadership.
It is usually a vertical relationship, a top-down mechanism associated with obedience, agreement and fulfillment. Typically, there is also a status difference.
For example, people follow a doctor's instruction because that person has expertise but we do what a police officer says because the officer represents authority.

INFLUENCE THROUGH COACHING
Coaches (and by extension, mentoring and teaching) provide people new knowledge and new skills. Unfortunately, consultants are not coaches, neither are most executives.
Traditionally, managers and supervisors have never assumed the mantel of leadership required to function as a coach—telling someone what to do is not the same as showing someone how to do it. Neither do the vast majority of CEO's.
What brings the smile is the leader who mentored, taught and coached them to be better human beings.

THE SPHERE OF PERSUASION
Persuasion becomes a defensive wall/ safeguard for the leadership when authority does not work.
Technically, persuasion ends with someone saying, "I agree." But agreement doesn't mean people will actually take action.
Unfortunately, persuasion requires a fair amount of sales ability and a fairly sophisticated understanding on attitude change and cognition (ability to acquire knowledge).
Story of Noah

THE MOTIVATIONAL SPHERE OF POSSITIVE REINFORCEMENT
The two types of reinforcement and two types of punishment fit within a theory of psychology known as operant (voluntary action) conditioning.
Some refer to it more of a learning theory, while others think operant conditioning is a theory of motivation. It's influence lies in the fact that consequences work in both people and animals.
Practically speaking, negative reinforcement presents ethical issues so shrewd leaders focus on influence through the use of positive reinforcement to increase the likelihood of DESIRED BEHAVIOR.

THE MOTIVATIONAL SPHERE OF PUNISHMENT
Positive and negative punishment has a very narrow definition in operant conditioning. In this case, the definition is going to be expanded to include the threatened use of a punishment.
One could make an argument that the threatened use of punishment (escape-avoidance) can reduce undesired behavior just as much as much psychological pain as its real use.
Something best used when all other forms of leadership influence don't work, it's proper use is subject to legal statutes and ethical constraints to decrease UNDESIRED BEHAVIOR.

RELATIONSHIP INFLUENCE
It's power lies in a both knowing how to develop, maintain and repair relationships.
In many cultures, such as in Latin American and Asia, business leaders place a great deal of emphasis on relationship.
Typically, business does not begin until a sound relationship is established. And doing business gets difficult when that relationship gets strained.
Assuming leaders devoted the time and effort to develop trust, rapport, credibility, and empathy; they have the foundation elements to influence through reciprocity.

INFLUENCE THROUGH EXPERTISE
Experts are people whom we think have valuable information.
Often they are people who know how to make the right decision or solve that intractable (difficult) problem.
It helps to have depth of knowledge to be perceived as an expert, and this is an important part of the success doctors, lawyers and consultants experience.
The source of expertise as a form of influence lies partly in the psychological theory known as attribution theory. But too often, we accept false beliefs and false arguments as truth.

INFLUENCE THROUGH VISION
Few leaders harness the influence of vision to motivate people and themselves to accomplish great events.
Those that have it seem to harness an inner strength that keeps pushing them forward on a path no matter how difficult.
The visionary leader also understands how to influence people through the use of expectations.
Setting positive and negative expectations exert tremendous influence, but few leaders understand how to use them properly.
Charismatic leadership is one of the most powerful methods of leader influence, but also one of the most elusive. It's difficult to develop, but well worth the effort.
It's been associated with religious prophets, great preachers, famous teachers and those who get tagged with the title of transformational leaders.
One basis for it's influence lies in an understanding of the nature of the psychological mechanism of identification. We tend to identify with individuals and their causes resonate with ours.

CONCLUSION
A leaders sphere of influence is like singing—if one only belts out only note there's no song. But If you have nine notes, the song sounds like real music.
Each of the nine spheres of influence can be turned into a skill.
Just because you don't have it today, doesn't mean you can't develop it in the future.