May Insights Newsletter

"Leadership is lifting a person's vision to higher sights,

the raising of a person's performance to a higher standard,

the building of a personality beyond its normal limitations."

- Peter F. Drucker

Making Sense of Leadership Leadership is a highly valued and sough-after commodity. Businesses continually seek individuals with leadership talent because they strongly believe they possess critical assets for improving their organization's bottom line. Additionally, individuals frequently seek out resources for becoming better leaders because they feel that demonstrating leadership skill is the most constructive path to career advancement. Consequently, countless books, seminars and consulting organizations are available for those wishing to become more effective leaders. But what exactly is leadership?

Each of us probably feels we have a pretty good grasp of what leadership is, but if we were to get into a discussion with someone about it, we would likely find that we see things from distinctly different perspectives. It has been said that there are probably as many different definitions of leadership as there are people who try to define it. This can often times create more problems during a leadership development initiative than are solved by it.

Additional confusion about the elements of leadership is created when it is compared to the discipline management. For some, there is little or no difference between leadership and management, and the terms are often used synonymously. They see a leader as simply being the highest-ranking executive in an organization without regard to the extent to which such an individual actually exhibits leadership behaviors. This view characterizes leadership simply as a position at the top of an organization or one of its units.

Others see leadership and management as polar opposites in guiding the efforts of people. Management is often seen as task-oriented, autocratic, domineering and insensitive to people's needs while leading is associated with being emotionally engaging, motivating and visionary. In this context managers are seen primarily as following established processes to accomplish organizational objectives in which people are treated simply as another organizational resource. Leaders on the other hand, are perceived as innovators who reinvent processes to put people first and who empower and inspire them toward the achievement of the organization's vision. Managers are said to have subordinates while leaders are said to have followers. The clear implication in such comparisons is that a leadership style is enlightened, progressive and productive while a management style is oppressive, stifling and inefficient.

There is no question that leadership is a complex and sophisticated concept, but unless individuals in groups and organizations can come to a common understanding as to its basic definition, objectives and operative principles, little lasting, substantive progress can be made in developing better leaders. The focus of this article is to try to bring some clarity to this issue.

At Symbiont Performance Group we feel that the simple and elegant definition presented by Peter Northhouse in his book Leadership Theory and Practice captures the essence of leadership best:

"Leadership is a process whereby an individual influences a group of individuals to achieve a common goal."

There are three important elements of leadership expressed in this short definition. The first obviously is that a leader influences others to takes action. The second is that the execution of leadership involves a process, and the third (more implied than expressly stated) is that it is also the responsibility of a leader to develop the plan and set the direction for the achievement of common goals. The essence of true leadership, then, is pointing the way and getting people to follow.

The concepts of leadership and personal power are closely related but have a distinct difference. As with leadership, personal power also reflects the capacity to influence others, but unlike with leadership, personal power can sometimes be used in a coercive manner. In a previous, article, we discussed the sources of personal power and indicated that personal power can derive from either a person's position in an organization, personal attributes or personality. View article on personal power.

Managers or supervisors who rely solely on their authority within an organization to impose rewards and consequences in order to influence subordinates are not acting as leaders; they are simply being the boss. Peter Northouse refers to this phenomenon as Assigned Leadership, meaning that such people influence only by virtue of the position power that has been bestowed upon them.

True leadership is different in that it makes followers want to achieve organizational goals, often with great enthusiasm, rather than having them feel they are being made to do something. A manager or supervisor who applies his or her expertise (attribute power) or uses his or her interpersonal skills to influence others (personality power) is making an emotional connection with followers. Northouse refers to this type of leadership as Emergent Leadership. The power of emergent leadership comes from being viewed as knowledgeable and likable. It is the power that derives from the interpersonal relationships that leaders develop with followers. Emergent leadership is being exercised by a person when other people in an organization accept, support and encourage that person's behavior. Thus, you get Assigned Leadership by your rank or position and you display Emergent Leadership by influencing people to do things by choice.

Most leaders in organizations possess and use the power of both assigned and emergent leadership. However, even if a manager or supervisor has both, he or she would be wise to use emergent leadership approaches most of the time. The overuse of position power can actually erode the ability of a leader to positively influence people.

With regard to the leadership vs. management question, we suggest that the best approach is to categorize leadership as one of the functions of management rather than as being something the same as or different from it. As with leadership, there are many definitions of management, but most people would probably agree that it involves the accomplishment of desired organizational goals by using people and other available resources efficiently and effectively. We think it makes sense, therefore, to characterize leading as a function of management along with planning, organizing, staffing, directing and controlling.

We consider directing and leading as parallel management functions for achieving essentially the same outcome, i.e., influencing people to take action. Comparing directing to leading is where a valid comparison can be made. Comparing leading to managing on the other hand, is like comparing apples to fruit. It is an inappropriate comparison and only serves to confuse and complicate the discussion of leadership.

Both directors and leaders influence others to act, but they do so in different ways. The basic distinction is that directing makes use of the power of one's position (Assigned Leadership) while leading utilizes the power of one's attributes and personality (Emergent Leadership). The director's power is authority-based while leader's power is derived from his or her own persona. Directors influence through the use of rewards and consequences and Leaders influence through non-authoritarian means to move people to act. Since management and leadership are not mutually exclusive, an executive can be both and should be prepared to exercise both.

Making Sense of Management

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Rapport reverses a strict law of physics: Instead
of opposites attracting, like attracts like.

MICHAEL BROOKS
Industrial Psychologist, Author and Trainer

Whether you are selling something, supervising others, presenting an idea or managing a conflict, a major factor in your success has to do with how effectively you establish rapport with another person. Rapport is an emotional bond or friendly connection between people based on mutual liking, trust, and a sense that they understand and share each other's concerns, values, and view of the world. It is a perceived affinity between two or more people. Rapport is one of the most important features of subconscious human interaction and is characterized by a sense of harmony, comfort and cooperation. The essence of rapport is liking another person. Other descriptions of rapport include being in synch, being on the same wavelength and a commonality of perspective.

The MAGIC of RAPPORT When you have rapport with another, it is much easier to influence his or her thoughts and actions. It increases others' receptivity to you. It is the glue that binds all successful relationships and is the very cornerstone of human relations. Rapport is the magnet that draws people together to create friendships. It is the charisma a great leader creates with followers, and it is the unseen connection that helps win and keep clients. This is why rapport is a foundational element of interpersonal effectiveness. It is the critical first step. In addition, relationships that involve high levels of rapport tend to minimize doubts, worries and fears about one's behavior and performance. Leadership, performance excellence and full self-expression are allowed to flourish in a relationship environment rich in rapport.

Rapport generally develops over time, but we may occasionally hear the term "instant rapport" used. When used in this fashion, the words describe rapport that seems to be immediately present or very quickly established in a relationship. This can happen when some positive messages are very quickly transmitted during a personal interaction. It usually results from the exchange of visual messages such as a person' appearance (being fashionably dressed for example), body language such as a warm smile or a physical action (e.g., presentation of a gift). Another important factor in instant rapport can be the sound of a person's voice.

Rapport is often described as resulting from situations where people are interacting with others who are like themselves. Clearly, we have a natural tendency to gravitate toward people who like the same things we do and who interact with others in the same manner we prefer to interact. While it is often said that "opposites attract," such attraction is usually based on curiosity and fascination, and is fleeting. It is similarity in thought and action that plays an important role in connecting people to one another.

The degree to which rapport exists within a relationship is determined, as with interpersonal effectiveness in general, primarily by how people communicate with each other. Humans communicate in many different ways, i.e., with words, by vocal quality, through body language, by listening and through actions. It is the skill with which people use these communication vehicles to make others feel comfortable in their personal interactions with them that determines their rapport-building capacity.

Here are some tips on how to increase your rapport-building effectiveness:

Interact with others in a way that puts them at ease.
Display body language that conveys openness and agreeableness. A smile, relaxed posture and a friendly vocal tone will go a long way toward minimizing defensiveness in others and making them more receptive to you. In his classic book How to Read a Person Like a Book, Gerard Nierenberg explains that that value of gestures such as open hands, uncrossed arms, an unbuttoned jacket along with an occasional subtle physical movement toward another conveys a feeling of "I am with you; things are going well."

Interact with others in a way that makes them feel valued and appreciated. Listen actively to other people. Make a sincere effort to absorb what another person is saying and feeling, and demonstrate this through appropriate vocal and physical expressions. Be curious and demonstrate concern for others. Drawing people out by asking about their feelings and opinions relating to the issues at hand and responding in a genuine, thoughtful manner will show that you sincerely care about them and value them. Exhibit respect for others at all times, especially in difficult or touchy situations. Thank others for their comments and suggestions even when you do not completely agree with them. Accept compliments graciously, and seek opportunities to offer sincere compliments to others.

Interact with others in a way that makes them feel liked.
Demonstrate personal interest in others. Do not routinely pry into personal matters that are not relevant to the central focus of a discussion, but do be open to gaining a better general awareness of others' personal general interests. Look for opportunities to inquire about peoples' personal interests, aspirations and likes and dislikes. Demonstrating a personal interest in another indicates a desire to know more about him or her which connotes liking. Most everybody wants to be liked, and anything you can say or do to help or support someone personally will assist you in developing rapport.

Interact with others in a way that makes them feel you are like them. Putting others at ease, valuing and appreciating them, and showing them they are liked are key factors in developing rapport, but the clincher is getting others to feel you have similar interests to theirs. People tend to trust, like and feel comfortable with other people they feel are like them. People with common interests have natural rapport. Some of the reasons we get along so well with our close friends is that we have similar likes, pursuits and perhaps, even opinions. Additionally, our vocal quality (speed, pitch, rhythm, volume and tone), gestures and body language often demonstrate similar characteristics as theirs.

This doesn't mean that we have to be just like another person to be able to establish rapport with them. It doesn't mean that we need to make dramatic personality changes in ourselves or artificially adjust our approach in order to manipulate others for our purposes. Rather, it means that if we try to tailor our communication strategies to match other people's preferred personal interaction behaviors as closely as we can; we can make others more comfortable interacting with us, thereby increasing our interpersonal effectiveness.

Learn more about how to interact with people to increase rapport.

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