Influence Tactics

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From the course by Indian School of Business

Leadership and Emotional Intelligence

106 ratings

Indian School of Business

Leadership and Emotional Intelligence

106 ratings

Course 5 of 6 in the Specialization Business Technology Management

The digital age is dramatically reshaping the rules for organizational success. The new context demands renewal of your capabilities and development of different mindsets. In this course, you’ll learn the different components of emotional intelligence at work. For example, you’ll learn how you can work effectively in teams, build cooperative relationships with your key stakeholders, exercise effective influence, handle difficult conversations, and create energy and enthusiasm to foster meaningful change. Our modules will begin with powerful stories that are illustrative of typical challenges faced by front-line leaders. We’ll analyze the case illustration using the ideas from emotional intelligence theory, and highlight the key lessons that you should take away in terms of mindsets and skills that you should master to distinguish yourself as a leader.

From the lesson

Leader as Influencer and Collaborator

Organizations are teams of teams. By definition, a manager gets work done not only through one’s own resources and efforts, but also through others. In other words, you are required to work effectively with people outside your team. These are individuals and groups within the organization and also outside. You have to influence people at different levels and functions, build collaborative relationships wherever possible, negotiate wisely, handle difficult conversations and make decisions in the face of uncertainty and complexity. In this complex arena, formal authority or position power is only a limited resource. You have to influence without authority, and this will require you to draw on your personal power, resources and approaches. You have to develop skills and mindsets for the challenges of managing conflict, handling difficult conversations and carrying out effective negotiations. This module will deal with the topics of influence, conflict management, handling difficult conversations, negotiation and decision making. As a part of this module, we have two interviews – one with a negotiation expert on what it takes to be an effective negotiator, and the second with an industry expert on the topic of complex decision making.

Interview-Effective Negotiation (Prof. Dishan Kamdar)16:35

Mindsets for being an Influential Manager12:59

Influence Tactics13:34

Conflict Management: Constructive and Destructive Responses11:01

Conflict Management Styles12:22

Difficult conversations11:41

Interview-Decision Making in a Complex World (Dr. Edward)10:13

Meet the Instructors

Ramnarayan Subramaniam
Clinical Professor
Organisational Behaviour

In the last video, we discussed why influence is considered the essence of leadership.

We also examined the kind of mindsets that we need to imbibe to gain acceptance

and cooperation from our key stakeholders.

In this video, we will learn the range of influence tactics

that help leaders achieve results.

We will utilize a short real life story to explore the types of influence tactics

that are helpful in specific situations.

Chris worked in a technology firm.

To address a major client problem, he was required to design and implement

a complex new initiative.

The project posed uncertainties.

It was expected to create problems in different areas

and dragged people out of their comfort zones.

Despite all these challenges,

at the end of his project, everyone agreed that Chris had been remarkably successful.

The project was completed on time and within budget.

More important, the execution was smooth and effective.

Without seeming to impose his will to push the change through,

Chris had managed to gain support and cooperation from key individuals and groups.

Not surprisingly, the success gave a big boost to his credibility.

What explains his successful leadership?

Let us take a brief look at how Chris influenced his key stakeholders.

He began by highlighting to his team

the larger challenges of addressing the client problem.

He invited the team members to contribute ideas.

Knowing the mindset of his technical team,

he focused on the excitement of the new technical challenges

and worked out a logical sequence of steps to move forward.

With his emphasis on regular informal discussions and team participation,

his team members were solidly aligned to his ideas and proposals.

Thus, his influence with his team flowed from his logical persuasion,

his strong relations with his people

and his emphasis on empowering his staff to work towards a jointly-agreed vision.

Once a tentative design of the initiative was in place,

he shared it with his superiors.

He carefully identified the senior management concerns and perspectives

and framed his key arguments.

This made his pitch highly persuasive.

The superiors were also reassured by the fact

that the technical team was unanimous in its views

and appeared confident and enthusiastic.

In other words, with his superiors,

Chris gained influence through his interpersonal awareness;

he considered their needs, appropriately positioned his proposals

and presented his ideas in an impactful manner.

The new initiative involved other departments and functions of the organization,

so it was important for Chris to gain their concurrence and support.

In consultation with key colleagues, he worked out a pilot project

to test the main ideas and concepts.

He shared the results of the pilot project with his peers,

got them involved in the review of data

and kept them informed at all times, including through informal channels.

As we can see, Chris again demonstrated interpersonal awareness.

He identified key stakeholders,

took time to socialize and implemented appropriate steps to gain their support.

Since the quality function was a key player in the organization,

Chris sought an appointment to discuss why the project had been initiated,

what plans they had worked out,

and the preliminary data that they had obtained from the pilot project.

He listened carefully to the concerns of the quality personnel,

and remained open to their suggestions.

After a review of their points, he reported to them quickly on how he had planned

to address their concerns and incorporate their suggestions.

Thus, to gain willing cooperation from the quality function,

he used logical reasons and facts to convince people.

He built on relations, on the strength of his empathic listening,

and he took thorough preparation to respond quickly and meaningfully.

As the project moved into the execution phase,

Chris remained in touch with people at the operating levels.

He encouraged them to freely voice their concerns and difficulties.

He ensured that people had requisite resources and support.

Through periodic review meetings, prompt corrective steps,

and supportive environment, he ensured that people were able to operate

without fear or anxiety.

In other words, his approach of actively involving people

and giving them credit helped him gain influence at the operating levels.

Additionally, he kept in touch with people, listened carefully to their concerns

and made an effort to look at issues from their perspective.

He also helped them see how their efforts supported the vision of the organization.

As we can see from the story, Chris used a range of influence tactics.

Theorists and practitioners have identified several tactics.

Let us review the important ones.

First, logical persuasion uses rational aspects

and persuasive reasoning to convince people.

It is suited for those situations in which there are shared goals.

People like hard data,

and feel that the rational approach will work best to attain the objectives.

It works best when the leader enjoys respect and credibility.

In contrast to logical arguments that rely on rationality,

the influence tactic of common vision

is an inspirational approach that involves emotional and value-laden appeal.

It shows how one's ideas support the vision of the organization.

By enthusiastically highlighting the common good,

leaders spark the spirit of collaboration.

It is particularly effective with one's team and peer groups.

A third influence tactic is one of interpersonal awareness.

This involves identifying others' concerns,

and positioning one's ideas appropriately, say by highlighting

how the new approach will benefit the other party.

It involves empathy, or examining issues from the other party's eyes.

For example, Chris informed the team members about how the technical challenges

present opportunities to develop new specialist skills

and build a future readiness, which was an important agenda

for his young team of professionals.

Another important influence tactic involves relationship-building.

Here, the leader takes time to socialize and get to know others.

Through informal conversations, the leader builds trust and commitment needed

for implementation.

This is important in those cases where the associations are long-term;

say, with peers.

A somewhat different tactic is that of empowerment and consultation.

In this approach, the leader involves others, creates a participative process

and shares credit.

The leader is patient, listens to ideas and responds in a supportive fashion.

The method works when the audience has the ability and interest,

and the goals are shared.

The other influence tactic may be called organizational awareness or coalition-building.

Here, the manager identifies key players

and gains their support or endorsement to exercise indirect influence.

Organizations are also political systems,

and like good cholesterol and bad cholesterol,

we have good politics and bad politics.

To be influential, a leader requires organization awareness and political skills.

Next we have the tactic of impact management,

where the leader thinks carefully of how to present ideas

in an impactful manner, and create a positive impression.

There are also other approaches of bargaining or exchanging favors

or applying pressure that managers employ to deal with specific challenges.

If there is overuse of any influence tactic,

it tends to make the tactic ineffective.

Our leader requires comfort and skill with a range of these approaches.

The effectiveness of your influence approach also has

implications for your future dealings.

For instance, people like Chris

keep growing in their influence on the basis of their performance track record.

On the other hand, other managers may find their influence depleting

due to their ineffective approaches.

Since influence is so essential to leadership, it is important for frontline leaders

to introspect on their own approaches,

and take appropriate steps to strengthen their influence.

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