Influence and Leadership

It’s a concern that dates back to Machiavelli and beyond: As a leader, would you rather be lovable or strong? Can you be both? These questions lie at the core of this month’s Spotlight on Influence. In the first article, “Connect, Then Lead,” Amy Cuddy, of Harvard Business School, and Matthew Kohut and John Neffinger, of KNP Communications, suggest that behavioral science now provides an answer: Projecting “warmth” is the key to having influence. The authors cite research by Jack Zenger and Joseph Folkman showing that leaders who are rated low on likability have about a one in 2,000 chance of being regarded as effective. Only after they’ve achieved likability should they focus on displaying competence, an equally critical characteristic. Cuddy and her coauthors show that leaders who try immediately to project strength run the risk of instilling a counterproductive fear in the very people they want to inspire. Without a foundation of trust, a company’s employees may comply outwardly with their leader’s wishes, but they’re much less likely to comply privately—to adopt the values, culture, and mission of the organization in a sincere, lasting way. And how can someone influence change within an organization? In “Network Secrets of Great Change Agents,” Julie Battilana, of HBS, and Tiziana Casciaro, of the Rotman School of Management, underscore the importance of networks. What matters most, they conclude, isn’t where someone ranks within a company’s formal hierarchy but how well that person understands and mobilizes the informal networks needed to effect change. We also hear in the Spotlight package from Robert Cialdini, the author of the 2001 book Influence and perhaps the leading social scientist in the field. He provides some clear lessons on how to build and use influence, such as his principle of reciprocity: “People will help,” he says, “if they owe you for something you did in the past to advance their goals.” Adi Ignatius, Editor in Chief

Influence and Leadership

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