The Role of Influence and Emotional Intelligence in Organizational Leadership
Phong Tong
The standard definition of leadership is “a process whereby an individual influences a
group of individuals to achieve a common goal”.3 The ability to influence others, especially as a
leader, can sometimes be simply a matter of circumstance. The employee or team member
compelled listen to and obey the boss as a part of the job; however, truly effective leadership,
aside from good managerial skill, also requires an understanding of emotional and psychological
factors behind influence. Many people think they are competent in the area of understanding
human behavior when it comes to emotions and influence, but science has shown that an intimate
knowledge of certain principles can often yield significant measurable results. Applied to an
organizational leadership setting, an understanding of emotion can be an extremely useful tool in
creating a better overall work environment.
In his book, Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion, Dr. Cialdini outlines six main
principles of influences, one of which is commitment and consistency. This principle simply says
that people have a strong need to be consistent in their behavior, and that an effective method of
directing that consistency is through commitment.1 When people commit to a certain action, they
are more likely to do that action. Although it seems obvious, this principle has many effective
applications. A study done in Columbus, Ohio called residents asking them if they would vote on
Election Day. The team, led by Anthony Greenwald, were able to increase significantly the
turnout in a U.S. presidential election among those called.4 Commitment and consistency are part
of the authority of a manager at the most basic level. The members of a leaders team have
entered into a commitment to do what is necessary for the job, including following a boss or
manager. But knowing how to utilize the power of commitment and consistency could be
utilized in even greater applications of leadership. For example, convincing team members to
commit to a certain productivity goal could motivate the group to having a greater likelihood of
achieving that goal.
Furthermore, the circumstances under which a commitment is made also affects its rate of
success. A consumer researcher in Dallas, Texas called residents and asked them if they would
let representatives from a Hunger Relief Committee to sell them cookies at their homes to help
the needy. When using a standard solicitation by phone, 18% agreed; however, when the
solicitor simply asked “How are you feeling this evening?” before the solicitation, the rate of
agreement was 32%.5 This demonstrates the importance of maintaining a good relationship
between leaders and team members. The better someone feels about a certain commitment, the
more like he or she is to keep it.
Another principle of influence is consensus or social proof. This principle means that
when there is a consensus or group, each individual is more likely to act because of a basic desire
to follow a crowd.1 Although this basic desire can have undesirable results such as groupthink, it
can also be a powerful motivational tool. A leader conveying a sense of teamwork can go a long
way in leadership. Knowing how to avoid the negative effects of consensus is also important.
Liking and authority are the next two principles of influence. These two principles are
just as one would expect. People tend to be more easily influenced by those who are likeable and
those with authority.1 These principles combined and used properly can be effective tools for
leading a group. Often as a leader it is necessary to determine how to direct and motivate one’s
team members as individuals. Every person is different and will respond differently to certain
approaches. It is important to find the right balance for each member of a team. Some people
respond more strongly to a leader they like, and some respond more strongly to a leader who
expresses authority.
Finally, the last principle of influence is scarcity. This is the principle that opportunities
seem more valuable to people when their availability is limited.1 The idea of potential loss is a
large part of decision making. Sometimes, when trying to motivate or influence, it can be useful
to convey the sense of scarcity across to team members. One of the sources of power of the
scarcity principle is that as opportunities become less available, people lose freedoms, and
people hate to lose freedoms.1 A leader should know when to tap into that sense of scarcity in
order to motivate the team in accomplishing a task. Lost productivity, monetary, or advancement
opportunities and the freedoms they afford can be a powerful tool in creating action. Making
previously unavailable objectives available can also be a powerful use of the scarcity principle.
Something that was previously unattainable suddenly becoming available can make it very
desirable. For example, when University of North Carolina students learned that a speech
opposing coed dorms on campus would be banned, they become more opposed to the idea of
coed dorms. Without ever hearing the speech, the students began to favor the argument.6 This
demonstrates the power of the scarcity principle.
Dr. Cialdini also mentions that knowing when to employ the scarcity principle is also
very critical to maximize its effectiveness. A study done by Dr. Worchel tested consumers’
perceived quality of certain cookies. Half of the participants were given a cookie from a jar
containing ten cookies and the other half from a jar containing just two. As predicted by the
scarcity principle, the cookies from the jar of two were rated more highly than the ones from jars
of ten.6 The more interesting findings come from when the participants are first shown a jar of
ten cookies then having the jar switched for a jar with two. The participants present a much
stronger preference in this case because of the sudden perceived scarcity.
In addition to knowing the various principles of influence, it is also important to have a
certain degree of emotional intelligence in order to use the principles properly. It has been
demonstrated that the principles of influence are very potent when used properly. There has been
much research into the field of emotional intelligence. One of the most famous is a book by
Goleman, the New York Times behavior science columnist called Emotional Intelligence: Why It
Can Matter More Than IQ. In the book, Goleman highlights what he calls the five pillars of
emotional intelligence. These pillars are self-awareness, self-regulation, motivation, empathy,
and people skills.
The first pillar of emotional intelligence is self-awareness.2 This pillar is absolutely
important in the workplace, and especially in a leadership role. Self-awareness simply means
knowing your own strengths, weaknesses, emotions, and how they might affect others.2 Knowing
one’s own weaknesses is vital in leadership because often it is required to delegate tasks to
members of a team. In the process of recognizing one’s own weaknesses and strengths, a person
will often find that they can see others’ strengths and weaknesses as well, a skill almost anyone
can recognize as vital in leadership.
Self-regulation is the second pillar of emotional intelligence.2 As creatures of emotion,
people often can let emotion get the best of them. This can be detrimental in life as well as an
organizational situation. Regulating emotions of oneself and team members is crucial, especially
in high stress situations demanded by some industries.2 Stress and emotional overload can often
lead to decreased productivity and quality of work. Therefore, it is an absolute necessity that a
leader also be a good regulator of emotions.
Often times, the role of a leader becomes the role of a motivator. It is important for a
leader to be motivated and motivate his or her team through example.8 It is a developed skill to
be able to stay positive in the face of adversity, but that positivity can be contagious. Knowing
all of the possible motivational tools available is a critical part of good leadership. Fostering a
spirit of competition can be useful in certain situations, as can positive reinforcement or setting
goals. Becoming intimately familiar with which techniques work and which techniques do not
work in certain situations can provide a huge advantage in the often demanding setting of the
workplace. Therefore, it is worth the investment of time to study and learn these techniques.
To be a good motivator is sometimes not enough. It is also necessary to be able to
recognize the emotional needs of one’s team, and to connect with them on an emotional level.
This relates to the influence principle of social proof.1 If a team member feels emotionally
connected to the leader, it makes their influence that much more powerful through the natural
building of a relationship. Thus, genuinely being interested in a team members concern or
frustration is a great way to improve the quality of leadership.
The last pillar of emotional intelligence are people skills. Although many parts of “people
skills” fall under other pillars, a good way of thinking of this pillar is one’s ability to use the
other pillars effectively together.2 Someone with good people skills can motivate, influence, and
build trust and rapport quickly with anyone in an organization. Many would like to think of
themselves as having good people skills, but it is important to stay honest with oneself and
constantly evaluate areas where personal improvements can be made. This will in turn make an
individual better at recognizing emotions in others and help to build stronger relationships, which
can always lead to more effective leadership.
Emotional intelligence has so much to do with success in the workplace. Analytic
intelligence is of course important, but every organization requires its employees, especially
managers, to deal with other people. A leader with a high emotional intelligence can thrive in
any situation.2 Humans are emotional creatures and often follow emotions, sometimes without
knowing. Every leader will eventually encounter difficult emotions, either through him or herself
or those of his or her team members. Having the knowledge of what types of emotions one is
personally experiencing as well as the emotions of team members can be extremely useful.
Furthermore, being able to handle those emotions, particularly ones such as stress and anxiety,
can provide even greater ability to lead a team in a positive direction.
Emotional intelligence and the principles of influence are often overlooked and
underused tools of a good leader. Through the cultivation and utilization of these skills, it is
possible to greatly improve leadership ability and performance. Analytic and organizational
skills are important. The importance of technical skill in one’s specific field should not be
underestimated in evaluating a good leader, but the value of understanding the emotions of one’s
team members can not be overstated. There has been much research in the field of social
psychology that is directly applicable to business and leadership. Many studies have been done
to show the truth and effectiveness of these principles and in the future, industries will place
much more importance in these skills when looking for leaders to improve their organizations.
Any leader looking to improve his or her skills should consider fully exploring every tool
available to them, especially studying the basic principles behind influence and emotional
intelligence. The field of social psychology is also constantly growing, so it is important to stay
up to date with the latest research on areas that can possibly add to one’s leadership skill set.
References
1.
Cialdini, R. B. (2007). Influence: The psychology of persuasion. New York:
Collins.
2.
Goleman, D. (1995). Emotional intelligence. New York: Bantam Books.
3.
Young, A. M., & Perrewe, P. L. (2004).”The Role of Expectations in the
Mentoring Exchange: An Analysis of Mentor and Protege Expectations in Relation to
Perceived Support. Journal of Managerial Issues, 16(1), 103-26.
4.
Greenwald, A. F. et al. “Increasing Voting Behavior by Asking People if They
Expect to Vote.” Journal of Applied Psychology 72 (1987), 315–318.
5.
Howard, D. J. “The Influence of Verbal Responses to Common Greetings on
Compliance Behavior: The Foot-in-the-Mouth Effect.” Journal of Applied Social
Psychology 20 (1990): 1185–96.
6.
Worchel, S. “Beyond a Commodity Theory Analysis of Censorship: When
Abundance and Personalism Enhance Scarcity Effects.” Basic and Applied Social
Psychology 13 (1992): 79–90.
7.
Crawford, Megan. Getting to the Heart of Leadership: Emotion and the
Educational Leader. Los Angeles: SAGE, 2009. Print.
8.
Bar-On, R., & Parker, J. D. (2000). The handbook of emotional intelligence:
Theory, development, assessment, and application at home, school, and in the workplace.
San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.