We hear it all the time – if you want to be more influential you need to be seen as an Authority and its true. We spend an enormous amount of effort and funds investing in our domain knowledge and expertise, thoughtfully presenting it in a way that demonstrates we have superior knowledge and/or wisdom on a particular topic. In the Principles of Persuasion Workshop we teach participants how to build and present their expertise in a manner that allows them to be seen as an Authority. Rarely however do we address the issue of making sure you don’t blow your Authority once you have established it.
New research in the The Leadership Quarterly identifies that when seeking to appoint a leader selectors base their decision on several criteria, key among them are honesty and trustworthiness. Both are critical elements in establishing someone as an Authority as opposed to someone who is in authority, i.e. the boss.
To recognise you as an Authority I need to know you know your stuff and I need to trust you.
The thing is, once leaders are in power or an Authority has attained that status do we simply trust them to exercise it in a prosocial manner?
For Australian readers I only have to mention the name Clive Palmer and you know what I am talking about. For our international readers, Clive Palmer is an Australian businessman turned politician. A self proclaimed billionaire, Palmer has iron ore, nickel and coal holdings. That wealth allowed him to establish a political party he named the Palmer United Party and buy a popular resort he renamed the Palmer Coolum Resort.
Many in his electorate have stated they voted for him because he was a successful business man. An Authority on generating wealth and thinking differently if you like. They believed he would help stimulate the local economy and give them an active voice in State and Federal parliament. However since his election to federal parliament there have been numerous allegations of Palmer not attending sitting days, not representing his constituents and more recently running a political party accused of nepotism and cronyism because of his want to nominate candidates who are mates, business associates and family (Palmer’s wife Anna indicated during the week she would seek pre-selection with the party for the Gold Coast seat of Gaven). Has Clive done his dash? Has he blown what credibility he had? Many are saying yes.
The premise of the research in The Leadership Quarterly as explained by study author John Antonakis from the University of Lausanne was “We looked to examine what Lord Acton said over 100 years ago, that ‘Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely.’” The study found that those who measured as less honest in pre-study psychometric testing exhibited more corrupt behaviour, at least initially; however, over time, even those who initially scored high on honesty were not shielded from the corruptive effects of power.
Therefore the point I would like to make is, think about how much time and effort you put into establishing your Authority – are you doing things that could be eroding it? I am not suggesting that you are taking a path like Clive Palmer, but it is quite easy to relax once the hard work is done – and that is where the mistake lies.
For me this was a great light bulb moment. I have spent years building and developing my knowledge. I have now published a book on the topic. What things am I doing to erode my Authority?
I want you to honestly ask yourself the question, have you taken your foot off the gas? Have you gotten comfortable being the “Go to person” and you are not necessarily doing what is expected of you?
In the research they found that power can corrupt leadership. Are you making decisions, comments or actions now that you would have have dared while establishing your Authority?
My comment to you, is once you establish your authority, don’t blow it once you have it! Keep your eye on the prize and make sure you regularly reassess the perception of your expertise and trustworthiness.
Tell me what are your thoughts on Clive Palmer, your own Authority or even on others you know who have blown it once they had it? Let me know…
Source: Science Daily, Power can corrupt even the honest
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“You only love me because you make yourself think good thoughts about me,” Jane said one day while in a blue mood. I don’t recall everything surrounding that particular conversation but I never forgot her statement. I replied, “Is that so bad?”We all experience love differently. We meet someone and “fall in love” but for those who’ve been in long-term relationships you know those initial feelings of love dissipate and change over time. After years you find yourself loving your partner for different reasons than those at the top of the list when you fell for them. Unlike mere attraction or infatuation I believe love is a choice. To Jane’s statement, I do choose to dwell on her best qualities. I don’t deny there are things she does that bother me, that I’d like her to change, but then she would probably have a much longer list of things I should change! However, that’s not why I keep my mouth shut and choose to focus on the positive. I focus on the positive because I do believe it makes me love her more.The Apostle Paul knew this to be true when he encouraged the church at Philippi, “whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable – if anything is excellent or praiseworthy – think about such things.”When it comes to influence and the principleof liking – we prefer to say “Yes” to those we know and like – a way to trigger this principle into action is by focusing on what we have in common with others and offering up genuine compliments. When we focus on these two topics we’re generally looking for what we’d consider the good in another person. Not only do they come to like us more, we come to like them more at the same time. After all, the person who cheers for your team, comes from your hometown, enjoys the same hobbies as you, can’t be all bad, right?A quick reread of Predictably Irrational by behavioral economist and Duke professor Dan Ariely sparked my thoughts on this post as I looked over chapter 10 on expectations. What we think about something or someone before encountering the item or person can dramatically impact our experience.Remember the old “Pepsi Challenge” taste test? In blind taste tests people seemed to prefer Pepsi over Coke, including many Coke drinkers! However, when people knew they tasted Pepsi and Coke many people, especially the Coke drinkers, preferred Coke!How can this be if they tasted the very same drinks in each taste test? It’s because knowing you’re drinking Coke, especially when you have positive associations with the brand, impacts your experience. Brain imaging studies in conjunction with the taste tests clearly show the brand association impacts a different region of the brand than the taste sensation and results in a change to the overall experience.As I considered Ariely’s writing, Jane’s statement, and my understanding of the psychology of persuasion, it made perfect sense that our expectations impact our experience. As noted above, there are things I’d like to see Jane change but dwelling on those versus the qualities I love about her would be a waste of time and energy. If I focused on what she needs to change it’s a sure bet I would not enjoy her company as much as I do when focusing on the qualities I love.Pondering all of this I realized something else I’d done that was helpful; a simple idea I began using years ago. In my iTunes library, among the many playlists I have, is a playlist titled “Jane.” It contains songs that bring back good memories we’ve experienced, songs that make me thing about her in ways that make my heart beat faster. Hearing songs that make us think of our loved ones isn’t a novel idea but perhaps creating playlists to positively influence your thoughts about a loved one is novel for you.Wouldn’t you agree that listening to music that makes you think positively about your spouse on the way home, before a date night or while getting ready to spend time together would create positive expectations that would make for a better time together? In my experience it absolutely has!So here’s my suggestion. Science tells us our expectations will impact our experience as will the choice to offer compliments and connect on similarities. Next time you get ready to be with your spouse, partner, or someone else with whom you have a relationship, make the choice to do what Paul said 2000 years ago; focus on the good in whatever way makes sense for you. It will make things better for everyone.
Brian Ahearn, CMCT® Chief Influence Officer influencePEOPLE Helping You Learn to Hear “Yes”.