Dr. Frank Lee Harper, Jr. is the founder and world champion of agile leadership concepts. He is President ‒ UBTS International Corp having strategic affiliates in over 55 countries, Provost / Associate Professor ‒ Cambridge Corporate University,
This article continues our journey with my "Leaders Are Born to Be Made!" series. The teaching objective is to continue to share my leadership and management insights within an agile ideology to drive strategic execution—professionally and personally—in this Industrial Revolution (I.R.) 4.0. Each article discusses the "world-class leadership behavior and management best practice" associated with the featured letter of the A.G.I.L.E. L.E.A.D.E.R.S.H.I.P. with a G.R.I.P.™ titled acronym that comprises the Agile Leadership Framework™.
The featured letter of this article continues with the "I" in A.G.I.L.E., introduced in an earlier article. The first article gave an overview of Intelligent Mindset. Articles two, three, and four took a deep dive into the practices of innovation, insight, and initiative, respectively. Part 5 will cover the fourth eye, or lens, of the Intelligent Mindset, the practice of influence.
The articles in this series teach you the components that embrace emotional and intellectual intelligence to remove ego-based fears—i.e., judgment, resistance, and attachment to outcomes— that contribute to toxic environments. This article uncovers the relationship between influence and the previous three lenses of innovation, insight, and initiative.
Fourth practice of an intelligent mindset – Influence
Let us look at the importance of influence for innovation, insight, and initiative. The previous article on initiative mentioned how vital the sphere of influence is in taking the initiative to become proactive. A series of steps were provided as a guide. Nonetheless, influence is about persuading people to follow you. In his book, Dr. Cialdini (formerly a nationally renowned professor of marketing at Arizona State University) describes six principles of influence, encompassing every negotiation tactic and act of persuasion utilized in boardrooms, living rooms, and farmers markets worldwide. Said another way, these are the six "puppet strings" that all of us tug at to gain compliance from those around us. They are vastly and widely applicable, from business negotiations to marketing to disagreements with your significant other. Looking closely, you will notice that we all employ them daily to achieve our goals and influence those around us. Many of them are particularly applicable to entrepreneurs. I've crystallized the essence of the six principles in my first book, but each principle is worth mentioning below. They include:
Reciprocity
Commitment and Consistency
Social Proof
Authority
Liking
Scarcity
Each is explained in the following paragraphs.
Reciprocity
The concept of reciprocation is pervasive in our society. It's one of our established social rules—if someone does us a favor, we do them one in return. If someone invites us to a party, we put them on the list for our next gathering. It is a fundamental principle ingrained in us since the earliest days of human society. The concept of reciprocity allowed our ancestors to freely share food, skills, and protection with confidence that the resources would be returned in kind. The shared web of interdependency and obligation allowed for the division of labor and specialization of skills—reciprocity was indeed an evolutionary advantage.
Accordingly, it’s no surprise that our modern culture has socialized us all to carry a sense of indebtedness to those that help us first—the Golden Rule, karma, and “pay it forward” are all reciprocal social concepts that are instilled in all of us from a very young age. We assign harshly negative labels to those who do not follow the cultural norm—mooch, freeloader, leech. It is no wonder that whenever another person does us a favor, we feel obligated to respond kindly. And so, our natural reactions can become a powerful influencer when exploited.
Commitment and consistency
The consistency principle states, "Once we have made a choice or taken a stand, we will encounter personal and interpersonal pressures to behave consistently with that commitment. Those pressures will cause us to respond in ways that justify our earlier decision." In layperson's terms, once we have made a small commitment or statement (especially publicly), it becomes part of our self-identity. For example, if I can get you to make the statement "I love helping children" (and who doesn't), you will be more than twice as likely to pull out your wallet when I ask you to donate to my favorite children's charity—Saint (St.) Jude Children's Research Hospital. Not donating to the charity would be inconsistent with your previous assertion that you enjoy helping children (a feeling known as cognitive dissonance).You feel compelled to donate to the children's charity. I have also witnessed this tactic used during the negotiation of a payment settlement in the wrongful death of my daddy.
Social proof
We experience and are influenced by social proof, most powerfully and often by all six principles. Social proof refers to the phenomenon that we are far more likely to do or believe something if we have seen others like us do or think about it first. In Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion, Cialdini cites several studies in the book, including one that analyzed withdrawn preschool children. Researchers showed each reclusive child videos of other children their age observing a social activity and then actively joining in the activity. At recess the next day, the formerly isolated children immediately began to interact with their peers at a level equal to that of normal children in their schools. The principle of social proof illustrates that we often copy behaviors simply because others are doing something. We believe it must be the correct thing to do. Each child in the experiment perceived being social as the "normal" thing to do, giving them the courage to alter their behavior. The principle of social proof applies to far more than elementary school behavior, and there are further examples in the book that examine social proof as an explanation for buying decisions, mass suicide, and traffic jams.
Authority
This one is pretty self-explanatory—if someone in a position of authority commands you to perform a task, you are likely to comply. Authority was proved in the now infamous and controversial Milgram Experiment. Stanley Milgram is a Yale University psychologist who conducted this experience. The following URL will take you to further details regarding the experiment, see here. Essentially, Milgram proved that despite moral objections and severe emotional distress, subjects were still willing to administer what they thought to be lethal electric shocks to others when commanded by someone in a position of authority. Milgram used his studies to explain the brutal actions committed by specific German soldiers during the Holocaust and the moral solid objection by the soldiers themselves.
Liking
This one seems obvious, but it's very true—we tend to comply with requests from people we like (friends, family, etc.). Amway Corporation has exploited the liking principle to great success. Thousands of people invite their friends for tea and finger food each day, only to eventually ask them to purchase some Amway products at the end of the party. By relying on our obligation toward those we like, Amway has built one of history's largest direct sales organizations. Amway depends almost solely on parties and the "liking" principle to generate over $10 billion in revenue annually.
However, not only can your friends and relatives exploit the liking principle, but anyone can also. The liking principle also encompasses arguably the most potent persuasion method of all—attraction. An attractive, flirty stranger can create the same persuasive "liking" effect that your best childhood friends enjoy. That's why nearly every pitchman, model, and TV commercial family is good-looking, and all those Bud Light commercials feature women in bikinis. The more attractive the person trying to gain our compliance is, the more robust "liking" they create, and the better the chance they have of persuading us. "Liking" is the principle that explains what Hollywood has known to be true for years—sex sells.
Scarcity
"Hurry, supplies are limited! This deal won't last! Call now!" How often have you seen slogans like those above plastered on store windows or shouted by TV infomercial salespeople? More than you can count, and it's because of the scarcity principle. We are far more likely to agree to a request if we believe (falsely or correctly) that we will not have another chance in the future. Fear of losing an opportunity can be a compelling motivator. Things that are difficult to obtain are generally better than things that are easy to get.
Consequently, we are subconsciously conditioned to use scarcity as a proxy for higher value. Cialdini mentions a used car salesman who always ensured that more than one interested buyer was present when selling a car. The competition increased anxiety in both buyers and made the car seem more attractive, undoubtedly increasing the price the salesman got.
Summary
To summarize the principles above of influence:
Reciprocation: Doing a favor for someone often gets you a favor in return
Commitment and Consistency: People hold an ideal of staying consistent with their behavior
Social Proof: People look to others when they’re not sure how to act themselves
Authority: People defer to others in authority when making decisions
Liking: People do business with others they know, like, and trust
Scarcity: People don’t like to miss out on something valuable and scarce
When I am most successful, it's because the people around me have made me successful. After all, I only scored a touchdown with my blockers. I never delivered a project that met business requirements and was completed on time and within budget without the effort of my team members. It comes down to the fact that a group, not any individual, creates success. How do you get people together around a goal and objective and be great? It's establishing a sense of common purpose. Greatness does not come from a tactical understanding of execution. Greatness comes from having a vision that goes beyond you and even beyond the organization. Influence is vital on the journey to greatness.
Okay, you’ve learned how innovation, insight, initiative, and influence contribute to the "Intelligent Mindset," but more is still required. You have to be a good communicator. Said another way, you must have interpersonal skills. My dad would always tell me to greet people in a manner that they feel special. His greetings varied to include "Pleased to meet your acquaintance" or, the one I liked the best, "It's been a plum pleasing pleasure and a profound privilege." I've heard that one of the most incredible motivational speakers in the world, Les Brown, uses the latter. I've coined my greeting building on that phrase: "It's been a plum pleasing pleasure and a profusely profound privilege,” and would finish with “to teach you” or “to meet you.”
The Intelligent Mindset practices innovation, insight, initiative, and influence. There is a strong correlation between each, which contributes to the mindset's emotional and intellectual development. The next article in this discussion of the Intelligent Mindset will cover the practice of interpersonal skills.
Prof. Dr. Frank Lee Harper, Jr., President and Global Chief Governance Officer
Dr. Frank Lee Harper, Jr. is the founder and world champion of agile leadership concepts. He is President ‒ UBTS International Corp having strategic affiliates in over 55 countries, Provost / Associate Professor ‒ Cambridge Corporate University, having branches in over 25 countries, while serving on for-profit and not-for-profit advisory boards. He is an award-winning IT leader and published author who is adept at influencing and teaching strategic transformations across multiple countries, industries, disciplines, and technologies for businesses having global revenues ($1+ Trillion); savings/growth ($10+ Billion); with budgets ($4+ Billion). His favorite motto is, "Leaders Are Born To Be Made."
