Influence Tactics in the Workplace

Influence

Any attempt by a person to change the behavior of superiors, peers, or lower-level employees

—  Is not inherently good or bad

—  Can be used for purely selfish reasons

—  Can be used to subvert organizational objectives

—  Can be used to enhance organizational effectiveness

Eight Generic Influence Tactics

Consultation

Rational persuasion

Inspirational appeals

Ingratiating tactics

Coalition tactics

Pressure tactics

Upward appeals

Exchange tactics

Use of Generic Organizational Influence Tactics

Power: What Is Power?

The ability to marshal the human, informational, and material resources to get something done

Power has an effect on:

Decisions

Behavior

Situations

Types of power

Power over: The ability to dominate

Power to: The ability to act freely

Power from: The ability to resist the demands of others

The Relationship Between Authority and Power

Five Bases of Power

1.      Reward power: Gaining compliance through rewards

2.      Coercive power: Gaining compliance through threats or punishment

3.      Legitimate power: Gaining compliance on the basis of one’s formal position

4.      Referent power: Gaining compliance based on charisma or personal identification

5.      Expert power: Gaining compliance based on the ability to dispense valued information

Empowerment and Leadership

Empowerment is making employees full partners in the decision-making process and giving them the necessary tools and rewards. Power is viewed as an unlimited resource. Traditional authoritarian managers feel threatened.

Threats to Empowerment

Dishonesty

Untrustworthiness

Selfishness

Inadequate skills

Leadership

Leadership Defined: The process of inspiring, influencing, and guiding others to participate in a common effort

Formal Leadership: The process of influencing others to pursue official organizational objectives

Informal Leadership: The process of influencing others to pursue unofficial objectives that may or may not serve the organization’s interests

Lead or Manage? Good Leaders Must Do Both

The Evolution of Leadership Theory

Trait Theory of Leadership

The search for universal traits possess by all leaders. An early trait profile found moderate agreement on five traits:

Intelligence

Scholarship

Reliability in exercising responsibilities

Social participation

Socioeconomic status

A Modern Trait Profile: Leaders with Emotional Intelligence

Emotional Intelligence (EI): The ability to monitor and control one’s emotions and behavior in complex social settings

Leadership Traits Associated with EI

Self-awareness

Self-management

Social awareness

Relationship management

Male Versus Female

The Controversy over Male and Female Leadership Traits

Rosener’s research: Female leaders are better at sharing power and information. Later research found no significant differences in the leadership styles of men and women. Women did not fit the female stereotype. Men did not fit the male stereotype.

Behavioral Styles Theory of Leadership

During World War II, researchers studied the patterns of leader behaviors (leadership styles) rather than who the leader was (traits).

1.      Democratic style

2.      Authoritarian style

3.      Laissez-faire (hands-off) style

The Three Classic Styles of Leadership

The Ohio State Model

Initiating structure: Leader’s efforts to get things organized and to get things done

Consideration: The degree of trust, friendship, respect, and warmth that the leader extends to subordinates

Four Leadership Styles

1.      Low structure, high consideration

2.      High structure, high consideration

3.      Low structure, low consideration

4.      High structure, low consideration

Basic Leadership Styles from the Ohio State Study

 Blake and McCanse’s Leadership Grid

Situational Theories of Leadership

House’s Updated Path-Goal Theory

Derived from expectancy motivation theory. Effective leaders enhance employee motivation by:

Clarifying perceptions of work goals

Linking rewards to goal attainment

Explaining how goals and rewards can be achieved

Path-Goal Theory: Leader Behavior Categories

Path-goal clarifying behaviors

Achievement-oriented behaviors

Work facilitation behaviors

Supportive behaviors

Interaction facilitation behaviors

Group decision behaviors

Networking behaviors

Value-based behaviors

Transformational Leadership Theory

Transformational leaders: Capable of charting new courses for their organization. Visionaries who challenge people to do exceptional things, above and beyond the plan

Transactional leaders

Monitor people so they do the expected, according to plan in order to maintain the status quo. Get people to do things by offering a reward or threatening them with a punishment.

Transactional versus Transformational Leaders

Practical Intelligence (Sternberg)

The ability to solve everyday problems by utilizing knowledge gained from experience

Changing oneself (adaptation)

Changing the work environment (shaping)

Finding a new work environment (selection)

Skills acquired:

Managing oneself

Managing others

Managing tasks

The Servant Leader (Greenleaf)

An ethical person who puts others—not herself or himself—in the foreground. His/her first role is as a servant who:           

Has a clear sense of purpose in life          

Is a good listener  

Is trustworthy

Accepts others at face value

Improves the world through self improvement

Mentoring

Learning from a Mentor

Mentor: Someone who develops another person through tutoring, coaching, and guidance

Dynamics of Mentoring

Serving as a career enhancement tool

Providing psychological and social support

Mentors Serve Two Important Functions

Behavior Modification

Behaviorism: The belief that observable behavior is more important than inner states (needs, motives, or expectations)

Operant Conditioning: The study of how behavior is controlled by the surrounding environment

Behavior Modification: The systematic management of environmental factors to get people to do the right things more often and the wrong things less often. Managing the antecedents and/or consequences of observable behavior.

Managing Antecedents

1.      Antecedent: An environmental cue for a specific behavior to be exhibited

2.      Cue control: Controlling the presentation of cues to elicit the desired behaviors at specific places and times

3.      Managing antecedents is a way of encouraging good performance.

Managing Antecedents

Managing Consequences

Positive reinforcement: Encouraging a behavior with a pleasing consequence

Negative reinforcement: Encouraging a behavior by immediately withdrawing or terminating a displeasing consequence

Extinction: Discouraging a behavior by ignoring it

Punishment: Discouraging a behavior by the immediate presentation of an undesirable consequence or the withdrawal of something desirable

Positively Reinforce What Is Right About Job Performance

 Build up desirable job behaviors by reinforcing the desirable counterpart to an undesirable behavior.Focus on the positive aspects of job performance.

Schedule Reinforcement Appropriately

—        Continuous reinforcement: Rewarding every instance of a behavior

—         Intermittent reinforcement: Rewarding some, but not all, instances of a behavior; the most effective form of reinforcement