Dear Consultant,
I have what I’m told is a great idea to improve some software that our company sells to a number of very large clients.  My colleagues and I believe that by making some fairly extensive changes, we will make our product most marketable and usable and thereby more profitable.  I’m the only champion of this change, and I’m not sure how to try to gain acceptance of my idea or to drum up support.  Persuasion has never been my thing; do you have any suggestions about how to sell my idea with my company?

The issue of persuasion is a complex one.  There are a number of situation specific variables that will come into play, but there has been some very interesting research that describes what seems to be effective in the general case. 

The act of “selling an idea” or “convincing others” to support your initiative has been called “proactive influence tactics” in the leadership literature.

Below I’ve paraphrased the 11 tactics that are used to influence people in organizations described by Yukl, Seifert and Chavez (2008).

1)      Use logical arguments and evidence to show what you’re suggesting is feasible and desirable.

2)      Show how your idea is directly beneficial to the person that you’re trying to convince. Perhaps for their career or to lower their workload or increase their commission.

3)      Highlight the emotional appeal of your position, focus on their values and ideals.

4)      Include the person you’re trying to convince in the formation of the idea.  Ask for their feedback and make sure that their feedback is included into the proposal.

5)      Put some skin in the game.  Offer to help if the idea is accepted.

6)      Do your best to express your confidence in the person you’re trying to convince, do some favours for them, make them feel good about you.  Do it authentically though, people may see through false flattery.

7)      Pull in personal favours.  Ask people to support your idea because of your friendship on a personal level.

8)      Offer to do something for the person.  Make it transaction, if they support your idea, you’ll help them in some other way.

9)      Get the help of other people who support your idea.  Coordinate with them to strategically show support for your proposal.

10)   If there are any rules, procedures or precedent that supports your idea, make sure that you highlight those to people you’re trying to influence.

11)   In some cases and as a last resort, you can try persistent reminders, demands or even threats. 

Although the long-term repercussion of these types of actions will damage your relationship with the person you’re trying to influence. Depending on your situation, some or all of these influence tactics may help you to convince the necessary decision makers to support your idea. 

It is important to use each one in a thoughtful way that is appropriate for the target you’re trying to influence and that is commensurate with the importance of the idea you’re trying to convince others of.

References: Yukl, G., Seifert, C., & Chavez, C. (2008). Validation of the extended Influence Behavior Questionnaire. Leadership Quarterly, 19(5) 609-621. 

http://www.amazon.ca/Leadership-Organizations-Edition-Gary-Yukl/dp/0132771861 

Dear Consultant, 

I am a small business owner with four full-time and three part-time employees.  As the boss, I’ve always been approachable and we all have a great relationship.  Lately though I think that my employees have been taking advantage of me by showing up to work late unapologetically, and not cleaning up their trucks after a service call, which they are very clearly supposed to do.  When I approach the team about these issues, should I threaten punishment or offer rewards?

 Using a carrot or a stick depends on the situation as well as the number of times that you’ve tried to correct this behaviour.  The problem may simply be a lack of communication or a lack of managerial follow-up to ensure compliance of your rules.  If this is a repeated problem that occurs even after you’ve all talked about it and are on the same page about work expectations, then you’ll want to think about institute a reward or punishment scheme to encourage compliance.

The general rule of thumb is to avoid punishment where possible.  Punishment may encourage your employees to want to leave your company, or to subvert you and your company in other, more subtle ways.  It is fear-based and utilizes coercive power which can create stress and a negative organizational culture.  While it may be necessary, it should be used as a last resort. Rewards may initially be considered more costly than punitive measures, but in the long run I’d suggest that the opposite is true. 

Losing an employee and hiring a new one is a very expensive process, similarly lack of productivity due to low moral/motivation, which is frequently associated with punishment can also affect your bottom line.

Here are some tips for using rewards as a motivator to promote certain behaviours, these are based partially on industry best practices and on Yukl (2013).

1)      Make sure that the rewards you offer are ones that they actually want.  Ask them!

2)      Whatever rewards you offer, make sure that they are fair and equal between employees and that the rewards are ethical in nature.

3)      Don’t offer a reward if you’re not able to fully deliver on what you’ve offered.

4)      Make very clear and simple rules for when rewards are given and when they aren’t.  Make sure that everyone understands.

5)      It is up to you to give out the rewards if the rules are met. Don’t expect the employee to come asking for the rewards.

6)      Try not to be manipulative with rewards, these should be an expression of gratitude for good behaviour.

If on the other hand you feel the need provide punishment for poor behaviour, here are some suggestions, based partially on industry best practices and also on Yukl (2013).

1)      Make sure everyone understands the rules and that punishment is the consequence of not following the rules.

2)      Always provide the same punishment for everyone consistently when rules are broken.

3)      Take your time before using punishment, get all of the facts and make sure that you’re being quick to judge.  Don’t make emotional decisions.

4)      Offer warnings before punishment, but be clear about when warnings will turn into punishment.  Put the warnings into writing.

5)      Making an example of employees may be tempting, but it is a bad idea for employee morale. Always offer warnings/reprimands and punishments in private.

6)      Always be calm, don’t let the employee perceive a personal attack.

7)      Make sure that you’re supportive and it is clear that you want to help them avoid this next time.

8)      Ask the person how to avoid this in the future, make a plan together and follow it.

9)      Do what you say.  If you warn of punishment, make sure that you follow through.

10)   Make sure that the punishment is equal to the bad behaviour.  Don’t over or under do it.

Dear Consultant,

I’ve recently been told that I have the opportunity to lead a team of five people within my company.  I would like to progress my career in this direction but I’ve never done it before and I wonder if I have what it takes to be a leader?

Leadership is something that we think we understand, until someone asks us to define it.  Usually we think it has something to do with power over others, whether that is the ability influence a team based on positional authority or simply because the team wants to make you happy. 

There is also leadership that is unrelated to positional power within an organization; it can emerge within teams either as an individual who takes control, or as an idea that takes off within a group or organization.  I once wrote a paper and found over 212 different definitions of the word.

I think though, in your circumstance it is helpful to think about leadership in terms of power and influence.  Those aren’t dirty words by the way, in many cases it is your ability to influence others that differentiates “leadership” from “management”.

Let’s think about the different ways that you may be able to influence team members and then you can do a self-check to see how you feel like they may apply to you in your situation.  There are five “power relationships” that are commonly agreed to exist, based on a seminal leadership paper by French and Ravens (1959).  Those power relationships are: 

1)      Referent Power – describes leaders who have the potential to influence followers because followers identify with, and like the leader.  They do things for the leader because they want to help you. 

2)      Expert Power – increases as followers perceive a leader to be competent at a particular task, so they believe that the leader knows what they are talking about and will take their advice. 

3)      Legitimate power – refers to the influence associated with a formal position within an organization.  This is also frequently known as positional power and can be given to anyone who is promoted to a position of leadership.  You’re the boss, so people do what you say. 

4)      Reward power – comes from the ability to provide rewards for followers.  Pay raises, bonuses, time-off, etc. 

5)      Coercive power – is the ability to influence by punishing or penalizing followers in the form of reprimands, demotions, firing, etc. 

Organizations are not democracies, but people vote with their actions.

Simply by being in a position of authority within a team in a traditional organization, you’ll gain the last three power relationships, the tricky ones are the first two.  Remember that organizations are not typically democracies, so followers may say that they will do what you ask of them, but they may “vote” with their actions by dragging their feet or actively defying your wishes. It is for that reason that it is important to convince, rather than order followers to do tasks.  With respect to expert power, you may ask yourself; do I have the subject matter knowledge to lead the team?  If not, do you need it or can you rely on your team for that subject matter knowledge?

 

Followers are going to want to logically understand the rationale for doing a particular action so that will frequently require subject matter knowledge to justify these actions.  Referent power is the aspect of leadership that most interests leadership researchers and practitioners. To assess your potential for referent power, think about whether or not you already have a working relationship with this team?  If not, how can you create a strong personal relationship to encourage a connection that may help team members have an intrinsic desire to do good work and to help you on a personal level.  Sometimes this is a matter of building mutual respect and friendship.

Leadership is a deeply complex issue, but in a traditional team context, if you’re able to call on all of the types of influence listed above at appropriate times during the work day, then you have the basic recipe for providing good leadership.

Dear Consultant, 

I’ve been working in summer camp for the last five years as a camp counselor.  This year I’ve been asked to coordinate the activities of over 30 of my former colleagues.  Up until now, I’ve always been on the same level as them, how can I change the way I act at work to be seen as an authority figure?

Moving roles into a position of authority can be a mental shift for the leader and also for the followers.  People tend to expect certain things from a person in a role of authority, and frequently it is easiest to just give them what they expect, professional leadership which includes fulfilling your role. 

Below are some tips to help you professionally fulfill your role as an authority figure.  These are based on industry best practices as well as from information Yukl (2013).

1)      Make your requests very clear and concise while still being thoughtful and polite to those you are addressing.  Be respectful when you make your requests, but not apologetic unless there is a reason to be.

2)      Always explain the rationale for the tasks you are asking people to perform.  Especially if the tasks are out of the ordinary.  People always want to know “why” and be convinced what they are doing is worthwhile.

3)      If there is ever a question about whether you’re overstepping your authority, check with your superior about the issue.  Have a clear idea of what you can and cannot do, make sure that everyone understands the boundaries of your role.

4)      Make sure that you do things “by the book.”  If you’re new to a role, and if there is ambiguity around a decision, try to follow what has been done before.  Follow processes if they exist, if not then your good judgement should be followed, while keeping the best interest of the organization in mind.

5)      Remember to follow up on tasks you’ve asked people to do.  A lack of follow-up can frequently be interpreted by followers as a lack of priority, leading to things not getting done.  Follow-up politely but consistently.

6)      If things aren’t getting done, it is your job to insist that it they are completed.  Do it in way that is fair and do it in a way that is consistent between employees.

For someone who has never been in a position of authority before, these six tips may help you to effectively perform your role and hopefully will help you to be perceived as an authority figure to your employees.

References: http://www.amazon.ca/Leadership-Organizations-Edition-Gary-Yukl/dp/0132771861