Friday, April 8, 2011
Leadership: Persuasion not Power? "What We Know About Leadership: Effectiveness and Personality," Robert Hogan, Gordon J. Curphy, and Joyce Hogan
In the first section of this article the authors suggest that persuasion and group goals are the keys to leadership according to this article. A leader is not made by power. A leader is not made by position. Leadership consists of “persuading other people to set aside for a period of time their individual concerns and to pursue a common goal that is important for the responsibilities and welfare of a group.” This understanding of leadership is presented as “morally neutral” and could apply to the pastor of a church or the CEO of Budweiser.
According to this definition, a person in a powerful position, using violence and coercion to keep his position, cannot be understood to be practicing leadership. However, this definition of leadership is to narrow. Are we ready to say that any political office holder who accepts the use of violence to keep himself in office is no longer a leader? While the UN has supported the efforts of many middle-east nations in their attempts to oust dictators, who according to this definition would not be true leaders, they have embraced the use of violence in this pursuit. While it could be argued that violence is a form of persuasion, the article seems to suggest that leadership does not use force to keep people in line with a goal, but persuades them by less coercive means. If that is the case, political office holders of nations have a tough time practicing true leadership.
http://www.hoganassessments.com/_hoganweb/documents/what%20we%20know%20about%20leadership.pdf
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A person can be a leader based on power and position. I served in the United Sates Navy, and I had many people appointed to leadership positions who were not very persuasive, but they lead based on the fact that the insignia on their shoulder said that I had to do what they said. Their position gave them power. So one must admit that a person can lead based on position and power, but it is not the best way to lead. Persuasive leadership is much better. It is highly unlikely that people will go the extra mile for the leader who leads based on power and position, but they will do more for the leader who is persuasive and makes them want to work with them. I had persuasive leaders in the Navy as well. They had the power and the position, but they were also the type of leader that made you want to serve. If we are going to define leadership as getting people to do what you want, than power, position, and persuasiveness are all forms of leadership. If we are going to define leadership as getting people to do what you want and like it, than persuasion is the only way to go.
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