According to Hughes, Ginnett, & Curphy (2009), leadership involves influencing people with an aim of achieving certain set objectives. Leadership involves, directing, control and supervisions of activities among other roles. The achievement of organizational objectives is accomplished through use of effective skills in leadership.
Leadership involves application of traits that will work to influence people to achieve desired outcomes. For effective leaders there is need to understand how influence tactics come into play in leadership.
A leader should develop the necessary power to influence behavior in an organization to a certain direction. In influencing behavior, an effective leader applies strategies or tactics that are meant to change the attitudes of the staff, their beliefs, values, and how they act (Fairholm, 2009).
Effective managers apply soft tactics in their leadership that are friendly to their employees, are not coercive and other people perceive this tactics to be fair to them (Fairholm, 2009). Some of the tactics applied by effective managers include use of rational persuasion; it is where managers attempt to convince their juniors by applying logical arguments as well as introducing evidence that is based on facts.
Effective managers will also apply inspirational appeal, which is attempting to create enthusiasm amongst the employees by attempting to appeal to the emotions, value system, and individual ideals of the employees in the organization (Fairholm, 2009).
Consultation is also an important tactic applied by effective manager and it involves inviting of other people in the organization into participating in the decision-making, planning, and in the creation and implementation of changes in the organization (Fairholm, 2009). The staff in the organization should feel they are part of the decision-making and consultation is crucial in achieving this.
Ingratiation is another tactic applied by effective leaders and it involves the act of ensuring other people are in good mood before a leader attempts to influence the people. Ingratiation is at times regarded as flattery but it works if well applied. Personal appeal is also an effective approach that is applied by leaders, it involves the application of reference to friendship, and loyalty before a leader makes any request.
Ineffective leaders apply ineffective tactics to influence people towards achieving organizational goals and objectives. Ineffective leaders apply hard tactics that exert pressure on their staff, work in generating resistance and the tactics are regarded as being unfair (Fairholm, 2009).
Some of the hard tactics include use of pressure, where a leader applies demands, threats, frequently checks on what others are doing or persistently reminds staff on what to do, with intent of influencing the target to acting in a certain way.
Another tactic used by ineffective managers to influence behavior is the use of exchange, it is where a leader attempts to express or implies promises and trades favors to the staff so that they comply with the set objective. Ineffective leaders also apply coalition tactics, the leader enlists the help of other people with intent of influencing the employees to work towards the set objectives.
Legitimating tactics is also another tactic applied by ineffective managers and it involves making a basis for a request as being based on their authority or right, rules, policies or what other superiors in the organization had wanted.
Success of an influence tactic is based how the people who are the target of the tactic react, either by demonstrating compliance, being committed or resist in regards to the achievement of the objective.
A leader who has power will effectively apply a number of influence tactics that leaders who have little or no power will not apply. The challenge to the leaders is assessing the best situation and the most effective influence tactic to apply to achieve the desired outcome.
References
Fairholm, G. (2009). Organizational power politics : tactics in organizational leadership. Santa Barbara, Calif: Praeger/ABC-CLIO.
Hughes, R. Ginnett, R. & Curphy G. (2009). Leadership : enhancing the lessons of experience. Boston: McGraw-Hill Irwin.