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Influence

ORG405: Principles and Practices of Effective Leadership

Influence

Leaders have the ability to affect and transform organizational elements through their

influential abilities. Without influence, leaders cannot produce change or accomplish goals. That

is, leadership must be able to successfully influence their subordinates to follow through with
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objectives. Moreover, leaders may utilize a variety of influential tactics to establish greater

power and get things done. Such tactics may be implemented in the workplace to produce

organizational changes in a variety of applications.

Tactics

A leader’s position of power is looked upon as useless without an ability to influence

others. Therefore, leadership may use an array of influential tactics to help encourage followers

to follow through with goals. For example, influence can be asserted by appealing to a vision or

higher purpose. That is, leaders who provide individuals with a meaning for change can help to

give reasoning for change efforts (Daft, 2015). For instance, retail employees may be more

inclined to work toward creating quality guest interactions after being informed that positive

customer relationship building leads to higher sales and commissions. Similarly, rational

persuasion “involves the use of explanations, logical arguments, and factual evidence to show

that a request or proposal is feasible and relevant to task objectives” (Wong, 2019, p. 4).

Moreover, sharing data and facts with subordinates can influence them to follow through with

accomplishing set objectives.

Other tactics leaders may utilize to produce influence include helping others to like

oneself, relying on reciprocity, developing allies, and asking for what is wanted. For instance,

leaders may encourage people to like them by showing concern and listening to their needs

(Daft, 2015). Moreover, subordinates that feel respected by leadership are more likely to help

leaders by doing what is asked. Additionally, sharing resources or time can influence follower

reciprocity as most individuals feel obligated to return favors for what others have done for them

(Daft, 2015). All in all, building trusting relationships with people can help leaders to influence

positive behaviors. That is, talking with and taking the time to understand others can create allies
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who are influenced work with leaders (Daft, 2015). Finally, maintaining clear and open

communication practices can assist leadership in gaining what they ask for. That is, the more

leaders are able to ask for what they want and explain reasonings, the more their followers will

understand what is expected of their performance and why.

Changes

Leaders who successfully influence their follower’s behavior in a constructive manner

have the opportunity to positively impact business endeavors. Therefore, the influential tactic of

rational persuasion could be used to implement organizational change within a retail setting. For

example, leadership could share sales data with employees at the start of every shift to encourage

employees to interact more frequently with guests to reach store sales goals. Moreover, having

an awareness of where sales are and what they need to be at in order to receive commission can

influence workers to sell more items. Sharing organizational data with employees fosters

knowledge and understanding of why procedures may need to be approached certain ways, thus

enhancing the effectiveness of leaderships influence (Madigan et al., 2022).

Applications

Rational persuasion could be used in a variety of manners within a retail setting to

achieve specific organizational goals. For instance, sharing customer feedback with employees

can help to influence behaviors toward positive outcomes. Moreover, sharing customer feedback

with employees can further help the organization to “improve services and reduce customer

defection which positively impacts firm profitability” (Celuch & Walz, 2020, p. 2). Therefore, if

leaders ask employees to increase opening cleaning efforts while also informing on customer
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complaints about dirty, dusty dressing rooms, then workers may be influence to clean more

thoroughly to increase customer satisfaction and commission opportunities.

Rational persuasion could also be used to influence employees to follow set

organizational protocols. For example, moving and climbing ladders is a safety hazard that retail

workers deal with on a daily basis when moving product from the back storage room to the store

floor. Commonly, employees are known to scale shelf walls or use ladders improperly to save

time. As such behavior poses safety risks for employees and potential costs and litigation for the

organization, leaders may wish to share possible consequences for not adhering to ladder safety

rules. For instance, showing a video during a staff meeting of an individual climbing a ladder

improperly and falling off may influence workers to climb ladders safer. Moreover, employees

who have a clear understanding of safety protocols and consequences promotes the prevention of

workplace injuries through the influence of rational persuasion (Guerin & Sleet, 2020).

Conclusion

Leaders who are able to influence others have the ability to use their power to implement

organizational change. From appealing to a higher purpose, to asking for what is wanted, leaders

can utilize a variety of influential tactics to influence others. Specifically, rational persuasion

may be used in a retail setting to influence employees to engage in certain behaviors. Moreover,

leaders can use organizational data to encourage workers to accomplish goals and follow

workplace rules.

References
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Celuch, K., & Walz, A. M. (2020). The role of active identification in driving retail customer

feedback. Services Marketing Quarterly, 41(2), 163–181.

https://doi.org/10.1080/15332969.2020.1742980

Daft, R. (2015). The leadership experience. (6th ed.). Cengage Learning.

Guerin, R. J., & Sleet, D. A. (2020). Using behavioral theory to enhance occupational safety and

health: Applications to health care workers. American Journal of Lifestyle Medicine,

15(3), 269–278. https://doi.org/10.1177/1559827619896979

Madigan, C., Way, K. A., Johnstone, K., & Capra, M. (2022). Differences between managers’

and safety professionals’ perceptions of upwards influence attempts within safety

practice. Journal of Safety Research, 81, 203–215.

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsr.2022.02.012

Wong, S. I. (2019). Influencing upward: Subordinates’ responses to leaders’ (un)awareness of

their empowerment expectations. International Journal of Human Resource

Management, 30(10), 1604–1634. https://doi.org/10.1080/09585192.2017.1299194