Highlights
INTRODUCTION
Hello and welcome to MGT309. We hope that you have an enjoyable and thought-provoking time during your studies with us. In this paper you will explore ways to recognise and maximise your role in influencing decision makers and understand how to use influential tactics. You will learn some of the theories attached to influencing decision-making and know when to apply these to situations. Leadership and its qualities as opposed to management, will be examined as will the relationship between leaders and those who seek to influence them.
AIM
Students will be able to recognise and maximise their role in influencing decision makers and understand how to use influential tactics. They will understand some of the theories attached to influencing decision-making and know when to apply these to situations. Leadership and its qualities as opposed to management, will be examined as will the relationship between leaders and those who seek to influence them.
LEARNING OUTCOMES
1. Influence
a. Analyse the theory/ies behind influence in the corporate and governmental sense.
b. Examine their role in a sphere of influence
c. Critique tactics for effective influence.
2. Leadership
a. Critically analyse and justify own leadership style for further development
b. Critically evaluate interactions between different agencies and sectors
c. Research and apply appropriate influential arguments in a given situation
Defining Relationships, Influence and Leadership
On 11 September 129, two armies lined up on either side of Stirling Bridge in Scotland. William Wallace, a minor Scottish nobleman led a small band of Scottish clansmen, more used to fighting each other, against a bigger and better organised English army. Against all the odds they defeated the English and declared Scotland to be independent, albeit for a short period. William Wallace’s leadership united an army and inspired his men to go to extraordinary lengths. History is littered with examples of men and women who have inspired and influenced others to go to extraordinary lengths, not all of whom are in positions of leadership. Rosa Parks’ simple act of refusing to give up her seat on a segregated bus in the US, on 1 December 1955 set in motion a chain of events with massive consequences. It began with a boycott of buses by the local Black community in Montgomery which lasted for 382 days. Suddenly, people in other US southern cities realised that this form of protest could work elsewhere and the boycott spread. Not only did it spread but it worked, ending an era of public transport segregation and bringing Martin Luther King Jr. to the forefront of the civil rights movement which ultimately changed the course of American history
These people united others behind a shared vision – they won hearts and minds and their influence resulted in seemingly impossible results because they channelled people’s motivation. You will see that this is a concept at the core of this paper. Leaders are, by definition, in positions of power – their title gives them the right to compel people to do things. Yet, deeper more enduring change occurs when people commit rather than comply. In this paper we will explore the concept of influence and how to generate commitment and you will see that it is not the sole preserve of leaders. Followers wield important influence too. We will explore the concept of leadership and you will have the opportunity to gain more insight into your own particular leadership style.
We’ve touched on a few examples of extraordinary leadership so now, consider your own examples of remarkable leadership in the exercise below. At the end of this paper return to these examples and reexamine them in the light of what you have learned.
Leadership Defined
The world of leadership is not static – new theories and models continues to emerge. There is therefore no universally accepted definition of leadership. Daft and Perola-Merlo (2009) define it as ‘an influence relationship among leaders and followers who intend real changes and outcomes that reflect their shared purposes.’
In our study of leadership in this paper we will examine the evolution of leadership models over time using the following classification:
Trait approaches – these are concerned with defining what sort of person makes a good leader or what traits a good leader should have. These were the earliest forms of leadership definition.
Behavioural approaches – these approaches define leadership in terms of what a good leader does
Contingency approaches – in these approaches. leadership depends on the situation and the followers i.e. leadership style is not static but must fit the situation.
Influence and Relational approaches – this describe leadership about how the leader and followers interact and influence each other.
Leadership vs management
The traditional view of management is that it is concerned with the efficient use of resources through planning, leading, organising and controlling processes. This is not to say it excludes managing people, who can be considered a resource. Leadership definitions tend to emphasise interpersonal interactions between leaders and followers. Once again there is no universally accepted definition of the distinction between the two. Daft and Perola-Merlo (2009, p. 14) distinguish between the two using the following criteria:
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