LEADERSHIP STYLES: INFLUENCE OR INTIMIDATION?

Posted on January 22, 2016 by Gary Henson, One of Thousands of Business Coaches on Noomii.

BusinessCoach.com defines leadership as this: Directing or guiding others to a result by influence.

The last three words in this definition are the most crucial for executives to see, because leadership by influence is so unnatural in today’s pressured corporate environment.

Profit pressures today, especially in publicly held companies, are so intense that most managers are forced by their corporate higher ups to resort to driving people for meager short term profits instead of influencing them for solid long term results. Most business owners and upper level managers have never been trained in leadership, so they fall into dominating, manipulating, or intimidating patterns of motivating people. Perhaps this is because it is the bent of their personality or because this is their sense of the best way to get things done. Neither sets of reasoning are true.

So how do you identify whether you have fallen into manipulation rather than influence as a leadership style?

Do A Leadership Analysis

Is there a frequent mood of finding fault and blaming individuals for specific problems? Does virtually every conversation from the leader to the follower become one where the blame (and sense of threat) flows downhill? Does the leader consistently fail to be open to the question of what is missing in his or her own leadership that could make a difference?

Has a space been created in the company for “heroes” or “lone rangers” to arise? By this we mean are there people who have decided to do whatever the leader expects in order to stay safe and avoid criticism, even if it means making fellow teammates look bad? Another way to put it is, are there turf wars and predatory tactics operating between your employees? If so, this points to a leadership culture of intimidation.

Is the environment one where the owner is indispensably overwhelmed and exhausted because of an isolating and dominant leadership style? Has this resulted in a mood around the office that trains people into a “just cover your own butt” philosophy of performance?

Today’s businesses consist of people and teams that are just waiting to achieve extraordinary results by a leader who guides them to their goals through influence. Aspiring leaders would do well to stop focusing on control or intimidation and figure out how to expand their influence. Here are four ways you can become a person of influence, no matter where you are in the organization:

Focus on yourself Most people find it almost impossible to follow a leader who doesn’t “practice what they preach”. If you can talk-the-talk but you can’t walk-the-walk, you dramatically lessen your influence.

Take the initiative Do not be passive. Don’t bother focusing on what others should have done rather than what you can do. Real leaders don’t have time to play the blame-game. Instead, they look for opportunities to take action. There is always something you could be doing to influence the outcome.

Share the vision As a leader, your vision should be your primary source of inspiration. If you keep that to yourself, you do not understand your role as Leader. Everyone who is expected to follow you must be aware and in alignment with the vision.

Acknowledgement Say, “Thank you!” Positive reinforcement is undeniably the best way to get the results you seek from your team.

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