What’s Your Influence Style?

CEO Institute II attendees discuss how to exercise their power to change the behavior, attitudes or values of others.

By Lisa Hochgraf

Power can be positional or personal, Beta Mannix told attendees of CEO Institute II at Cornell University in Ithaca, N.Y., in August. When it’s positional, it is based on things like your rank in the organization, your network or alliances, or your visibility to your members, explained Mannix, associate dean for executive MBA programs, Ann Whitney Olin professor of management and professor of management and organizations. When it’s personal, it might have to do with your track record, your hard work or your expertise. Whatever your style, power can be leveraged to influence others. At the institute, attendees discussed some common styles of influence:

Common vision. Demonstrating how ideas support broader goals can be a way to remind people of what the organization is working toward and that day-to-day decision-making should be tied to it.

Bargaining. Negotiating a mutually satisfying outcome might be a good strategy when someone is making a concession to help your cause or when you have to choose one staff member’s proposal over another and you want to sweeten the situation for the person whose proposal isn’t chosen.

Coercion. Using threats or pressure is not often used by leaders except in crisis situations.

Empowerment. Involving others in decision-making may work best when the people being empowered have a great deal of experience or knowledge. It might not be the best technique if you need to preserve authority or if you are concerned about what decision will be made by those empowered. “What strategy are you using when?” Mannix asked the group. “Link it to the power that you have and what is your ultimate goal.”

Lisa Hochgraf is a CUES senior editor.

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