1. There is an imbalance in leadership training. There is not enough emphasis on the skills, central to great leadership, of inspiring others with beliefs, vision, values and attitude; and too much emphasis on the importance of systems, planning, measurement, budgets, controls and procedures - in short, on management! Does any great leader ever manage people into following him? No, he inspires them, motivates them, keeps them in touch with the bigger vision - he leads them.

2. As a business leader, you have probably been well trained in logic and analysis. But a key leadership skill is the application of ‘emotional intelligence’ - the ability to know when things are ‘true’ or when they are ‘off’, when people are truly inspired, or just paying lip service. As a leader you need emotional intelligence to manage your own and others’ emotions, and you need skills appropriate to this task. Trying to do it by analysis and logic is about as effective as trying to drive a car by studying from a manual how the engine works.

3. People, especially in the business world, tend to avoid emotion - expressing it, dealing with it, looking at where it came from and its role in a situation. The rationale for not dealing with emotion, the very essence of leadership, is that all ‘this emotion stuff’ is ‘not professional’! Not so: it’s only ‘unprofessional’ to suppress emotion or express it inappropriately. When all ‘this emotion stuff’ is not explored and resolved in leadership groups, it always produces long-term tensions and political battles. These cause acute stress in individuals and cripple organisational effectiveness and efficiency. At the same time, they also destroy satisfaction, joy, fun, friendship, health, trust and a good night’s sleep!

4. Leadership skills like vision, inspiration and emotional intelligence can be trained on training courses - but it takes a different kind of course. In most leadership training programmes you will see models of leadership discussed, followed by practical exercises that analyse logically what went right and wrong in a ‘leadership game’. It’s all familiar and fun, but what’s being taught are the elements that underpin leadership, not the essence of leadership.

Source:  http://cultivategreatness.com/2008/10/24/why-doesnt-leadership-training-produce-leaders

Is someone a leader if he is a manger? Although there may be a major difference between some leaders and managers, there are those who are both, i.e., leaders who reprise their roles as managers. Mostly the difference lies in the manner in which the two motivate others towards accomplishing objectives.

Managers work in a system of hierarchy, wherein they are given a specific goal by their superiors, towards which they direct their subordinates. In return, the subordinates are ensured remuneration. But leadership requires giving up formal authority (if any), and instead, motivating people towards a goal by appealing to them in other manners besides promise of remuneration. This could be done by inspiring followers through charisma, or showing them that following the goal would lead to their hearts desire.

While managers are very work oriented, make plans, break down goals, prioritize and assign tasks, leaders focus more on keeping people enthused about the endeavor. They take care to keep people engaged, sometimes through individual attention, keeping the energy up, forging team spirit or inspiring them. But it is important to keep in mind that, like managers, leaders are achievement oriented as well. The difference is in the manner in which they pursue their objectives.

We are sure that plenty of important and subtle differences between the two come to your mind. We would like to hear about them and your views on the topic in general.

In his book, Influence: the Psychology of Persuasion, author Robert Cialdini defines six weapons of influence: reciprocation, commitment/consistency, authority, social validation, scarcity, and liking/friendship. Below, we’ll look at a number of persuasive techniques and how some of Cialdini’s “weapons” can be applied, along with some hints from Aristotle and one rather innovative technique offered up by two guys with distinctly Hollywood backgrounds.

Manufacture a need
Attempting to persuade others to believe you when you lack an identifiable urgency is pointless. If the thing you want — support, money, approval — isn’t obvious, you’ll need to make it obvious by manufacturing a profound need and lacing it with urgency. Cialdini’s weapon of scarcity comes into play. He writes, “People find objects and opportunities more attractive to the degree that they are scarce, rare or dwindling in availability.”

Advertisers rely on first creating a need for you (Nothing else can dehydrate your food like a Ronco Food Dehydrator), then on creating the notion of scarcity (and you have five minutes to buy one at this amazing price). In the professional world, you have two such agents on your persuasive side: time, and the indeterminate actions of your competitor. In order to get your audience on your side, you have to convince them of a need they may not be aware they had. For example, you need to get a program off the ground immediately because now is the only time it can be implemented with the best possible results.

Use loaded words
Politicians and advertisers use loaded words every day. Consider the commonly used phrases “war on terror,” “defending democracy” or “all natural.” What precisely do they mean? Not even an effectively drawn-out response could deliver the connection and the true meaning of these terms. In the desire to persuade, meaning itself is often secondary when loaded words are used.

For example, Warren Buffet rarely fails to refer to his investors as “partners,” though they do not meet this definition. He knows, however, that doing so instills a sense of equality and fraternity in them without his having to give up a single thing. Cialdini’s ideas of both reciprocation (“People are more willing to comply with requests from those who have provided such things first”) and liking/friendship (“People prefer to say yes to those they know and like”) can be seen in Buffett’s simple, but loaded, choice of words.

Speak their language
Again, “People prefer to say yes to those they know and like.” To that end, a basic means of persuasion involves not only using jargon they understand and recognize, but simply using the name(s) of your audience. It’s as fundamental as meeting someone for the first time; if later on you’re able to remember their name, you’re bound to make a far better impression. It massages the ego and convinces the listener both that somebody has remembered their name, and that they proved worthy of having their name remembered.

The next three techniques — ethos, pathos and logos — appear as modes of persuasion in Aristotle’s On Rhetoric. Combining all three modes properly has the potential to craft an extremely persuasive argument.

Appeal to authority (ethos)
Of authority, Cialdini writes, “People are more willing to follow the directions or recommendations of a communicator to whom they attribute relevant authority or expertise.”

An appeal to authority is meant to satisfy your audience that you come from a position of power, whether you are demonstrating your own in-depth knowledge on the topic; your own qualifications; a display of your own interest of commitment in the matter; or you’re introducing the words or work of an individual who is an established authority in order to align their views with your own.

Appeal to emotion (pathos)
Too often, people incorrectly assume that the business world is only concerned with facts. While numbers have their place and should never be ignored entirely, an appeal to emotions can prove especially effective in a business setting.

The key is to evoke an emotional response by using metaphors or appealing to a sense of risk and adventure — without overdoing it.

Appeal to reason (logos)
Appealing to reason is the application of unimpeachable facts and figures to influence your audience. For many in the professional world, there may be no better form of persuasion. In conjunction with ethos, using reason and logic will help to convey the impression of authority, in part because you appear supremely prepared.

Tell a story
Finally, former Hollywood consultants Robert Dickman and Richard Maxwell, the authors of The Elements of Persuasion, warn not to overlook the persuasive power of storytelling. They believe that we organize our thought processes according to stories and argue that “every great leader is a storyteller.” To them, a story is “a fact wrapped in an emotion that compels an action, which transforms our world,” and as such, can be utilized as a technique in persuasion.

They outline the five elements of a successful story: The story is told with passion, through the eyes of a hero, one who first encounters an antagonist, then experiences an awareness, and this awareness leads to the ultimate transformation.

The point, then, is to dress your presentation to persuade in the skin of a story. Position what you’re chiefly trying to persuade (a financial opportunity) as the hero; known obstacles as the antagonist (risk of financial loss); insert your primary argument as the awareness (reasons risk is reduced); and the ultimate transformation as your perceived outcome (financial reward). And, of course, tell it with passion.

Source:
http://en.wikipedia.org
www.businessweek.com
www.influenceatwork.com