How to lead

It's Launch Time for "How to Lead: Discover the Leader Within You"
Article by James Manktelow

This is an exciting time for all of us at Mind Tools, as our year-long work comes to fruition in this newsletter, with the much-anticipated launch of “How to Lead: Discover the Leader Within You.” For weeks now, we have given you “inside looks” at this course. Now, we hope you share our excitement as we make the course available to you on the Mind Tools website.

How to Lead was written by myself (James Manktelow), Felix Brodbeck and Namita Anand; and it was edited by Kellie Fowler.

You’ll know me through this newsletter and as author of Mind Tools, Stress Tools and Make Time for Success! (which I co-authored with Namita). I bring practical business and leadership experience to the course, as well as expertise in breaking complex ideas down into simple, easy-to-apply mind tools.

Namita is a business journalist. She specializes in presenting complex information in a straight forward and engaging manner. And you’ll know Kellie, again from this newsletter, as an inspiring personal development writer and a careful editor.

We’ve also introduced Felix Brodbeck in previous newsletters. Felix is Professor of Organizational and Social Psychology, Head of Department, Work & Organizational Psychology, and Director of the Aston Centre for Leadership Excellence (ACLE) at Aston Business School, UK. He is a real world authority on leadership.

Between us we have written a course that combines Felix’s expertise and my experience with the practical, clear, accessible approach you’ve come to expect from Mind Tools.

And it’s a course that really will unlock your leadership potential, setting you firmly on the path to becoming a highly effective and deeply respected leader (just as long as you put in a bit of hard work).

Find out more about “How to Lead” at http://www.mindtools.com/rs/HowtoLead. And really do discover the leader within you!

Building Expert Power - Lead From the Front!

There are many types of power that leaders can use.
These include problematic ones such as the power of position, the power to give rewards, the power to punish and the power to control information. While these types of power do have some strength, they put the person being lead in an unhealthy position of weakness, and can leave leaders using these power bases looking autocratic and out of touch.

More than this, society has changed hugely over the last 50 years. Citizens are individually more powerful, and employees are more able to shift jobs. Few of us enjoy having power exerted over us, and some will do what they can to undermine people who use these sorts of power.

However there are three types of positive power that truly effective leaders use: Charismatic power, expert power and referent power.
This article teaches the technique of building expert power.

Using the Tool:
Expert power is essential because as a leader, your team looks to you for direction and guidance. Team members need to believe in your ability to set a worthwhile direction, give sound guidance and co-ordinate a good result.
If your team perceives you as a true expert, they will be much more receptive when you try to exercise influence tactics such as rational persuasion and inspirational appeal.

And if your team sees you as an expert you will find it much easier to guide them in such a way as to create high motivation:
If your team members respect your expertise, they'll know that you can show them how to work effectively;
If your team members trust your judgment, they'll trust you to guide their good efforts and hard work in such a way that you'll make the most of their hard work; and
If they can see your expertise, team members are more likely to believe that you have the wisdom to direct their efforts towards a goal that is genuinely worthwhile.

Taken together, if your team sees you as an expert, you will find it much easier to motivate team members to perform at their best.
So how do you build expert power?
Gain expertise: The first step is fairly obvious (if time consuming) – gain expertise. And, if you are already using tools like the information gathering tools in "How to Lead", the chances are that you have already progressed well ahead in this direction.

But just being an expert isn’t enough, it is also necessary for your team members to recognize your expertise and see you to be a credible source of information and advice. Gary A. Yukl, in his book “Leadership in Organizations,” details some steps to build expert power.

A summary of these steps follows:

Promote an image of expertise: Since perceived expertise in many occupations is associated with a person’s education and experience, a leader should (subtly) make sure that subordinates, peers, and superiors are aware of his or her formal education, relevant work experience, and significant accomplishments. One common tactic to make this information known is to display diplomas, licenses, awards, and other evidence of expertise in a prominent location in one’s office – after all, if you’ve worked hard to gain knowledge, it’s fair that you get credit for it. Another tactic is to make subtle references to prior education or experience (e.g., “When I was chief engineer at GE, we had a problem similar to this one”). Beware, however, this tactic can easily be overdone.

Maintain credibility:
Once established, one’s image of expertise should be carefully protected. The leader should avoid making careless comments about subjects on which he or she is poorly informed, and should avoid being associated with projects with a low likelihood of success.

Act confidently and decisively in a crisis: In a crisis or emergency, subordinates prefer a “take charge” leader who appears to know how to direct the group in coping with the problem. In this kind of situation, subordinates tend to associate confident, firm leadership with expert knowledge. Even if the leader is not sure of the best way to deal with a crisis, to express doubts or appear confused risks the loss of influence over subordinates.

Keep informed:
Expert power is exercised through rational persuasion and demonstration of expertise. Rational persuasion depends on a firm grasp of up-to-date facts. It is therefore essential for a leader to keep well informed of developments within the team, within the organization, and in the outside world.
Recognize subordinate concerns: Use of rational persuasion should not be seen as a form of one-way communication from the leader to subordinates. Effective leaders listen carefully to the concerns and uncertainties of their team members, and make sure that they address these in making a persuasive appeal.

Avoid threatening the self-esteem of subordinates:
Expert power is based on a knowledge differential between leader and team members. Unfortunately, the very existence of such a differential can cause problems if the leader is not careful about the way he exercises expert power.Team members can dislike unfavorable status comparisons where the gap is very large and obvious. They are likely to be upset by a leader who acts in a superior way, and arrogantly flaunts his greater expertise.In the process of presenting rational arguments, some leaders lecture their team members in a condescending manner and convey the impression that the other team members are “ignorant.” Guard against this.

Best wishes, and until next time!
James & Kellie