The basic functioning of organization is determined by the influence process exhibited by a leader. The top management executives of an institution possess some form of influence over other employees. Through the influence, the leaders are able to bring change to the functioning of an organization. The other workers respond to their cues and leadership style thus leading to a unique culture that can only be identified with the leader. The influence process depends on the leader. Therefore, one leader possesses an influence process that is different from another. The differences arise as a result of varying personality traits, experiences, strategic acumen, and the culture of a leader. This paper examines the different influence processes that are exhibited by leaders that include Lt. General Nadja West- Army surgeon, William D. Pitchford – Chief human resources, and Francine Barr-President of St. Mary’s Hospital.
Role of Influence in Contemporary Leadership
Influence processes are an important part of the organization because they contribute to the accomplishment of tasks. There are various ways that can be used by leaders to provide strategic leadership in organizations. The methods influence worker’s behavior towards engaging in organization processes in the required way. The leadership influence is necessary for the daily running of an organization. The employees expect the top leadership and management of an organization to offer strategic direction apart from participating in the daily management processes of the organization (Cranmer, Goldman & Houghton, 2019). Leaders need to study culture of an organization and then adapt their styles to match them. A leader’s professional style should influence workers to model their behavior in a way that is consistent with an organizational culture.
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Leaders impress upon employees depending on the influence processes used. The processes can be broadly categorized into four including status quo guardian, processes manager, high control innovator, and participative innovator. Influence processes can also be affected by other factors that include environment, leadership, structure, culture, strategy, and technology. In the examination of the three leaders identified, it will be evident that the trio has different leadership and influence processes as determined by such factors.
High control innovators are leaders dubbed as more focused on getting a high challenge form their work environment. Such figureheads also must possess high control of a workplace or task environment. Notably, they maintain a tight control when given leadership responsibilities. Such leaders opt to work in environments that bring challenges to their skills and knowledge (Cyret & March, 2016). The leaders opine that it helps them to grow further. There are other instances when a leader may seek a high level challenges while being less focused on control. Such leaders are referred to as participative innovators. Such leaders are usually not interested in control but will in most cases delegate it to other workers in their quest for a high challenge (Fischer, Dietz & Antonakis, 2017). There are some leaders who pursue low challenges but want to have a lot of control in the workplace. Such leaders are referred to as status quo guardian. In such circumstances, a leader strives to avert challenges in an effort to maintain a tight control over an organization. Process managers, on the other hand, desire control and challenge that is low ranked. Such leaders thus avoid challenging situations while also delegating control of the organization to other parties.
Types of Influence Processes
The type of influence processes exhibited by leaders determines the strategic orientation or performance of a firm. The figureheads possess organization’s leadership and exert influence through direct control. One of the most common influences entails possessing a strong control over the mission and vision of the organization (Allen, Porter & Angle, 2016). Any organization’s culture is determined by its mission or vision. Influential leaders provide a benchmark for undertaking organizational activities. A leader who understands and also has a strong control over mission and vision of an organization can influence an organization through its culture. The strategies adopted by the leader therefore greatly determine direction of the organization. There exists other instances when leaders decide to modify or formulate a strategy when they have a direct relationship with the management. Notably, they are also involved in employment of employees who implement the requirements of an organization. Creating strategies helps in introducing concepts or activities that are unique to the leader. They can thus be identified with those strategies.
When there is a direct leadership between a leader and the management, it is also possible to have other effects like making determinations over organizational environment and structure and possessing power to make key decisions. Another influence process can be in the form of allocation of resources. The top management leaders utilize their power on allocation of resources to influence other employees. Leaders that use this type of influence to determine how various resources will be allocated to different departments in the organization. The various resources available include financial resources, human resources as well as technological resources among others. Most workers display respect for people who have the authority to allocate resources across the organization.
Another influence process that could be adopted by a leader entails having a reward system in place. Such an influence process can have a significant effect on the culture of the organization. Employees in an organization are affected in the way that they behave as a result of the reward system that is implemented by a leader (Smith, Haslam & Nielsen, 2018). When expecting rewards, employees may be productive enough to facilitate achievement of organizational objectives. They achieve set targets with an expectation of being awarded. Their behavior is usually tuned to match the expected behavioral standards in the organization. Rewards come in various forms. They could be presented in the form of benefits or monetary rewards. Benefits include things like promotion or added responsibility.
There are instances when leaders encourage employees to display their best performance to be promoted into leadership positions. Their promotion is dependent on ability to exhibit sensitivity to the culture and structure of an organization (Leroy, Segers, Van Dierendonck & Den Hartog, 2018). Notably, they should also be ready to work towards achieving desired targets. Leaders could also utilize an influence process that entails showcasing good behavior. The leaders act as role models to the other workers. This is achieved when a leader sets norms or targets and becomes a role model in fulfilling the set norms or achieving the targets. Role modelling influences other persons in an institution to want to be like the leader thus bringing in significant results into the work processes.
The methodology used to identify and research the leaders selected for this report
The leaders were identified through internet resources. Nadja West was chosen due to the nature of leadership structure of the army. Notably, it was important to understand the influence process that leaders in the military use. William Pitchford was selected because he is directly involved with workers as human resource officer. Francine Barr was chosen to bring a dimension of the topmost management. Indeed, it was important to understand how powerful leaders interact with the other employees. The leadership styles and influence processes were examined through researching internet resources that included company websites.
Influence Processes by the Three Leaders
Lt. General Nadja West- Army surgeon
The leadership style exhibited by Nadja West can be broadly categorized as an authoritative style of leadership. He works in an environment where structures and respect to leadership structures is highly valued. People that indicate aspects of disrespect are swiftly punished. He is a hands-on-leader who likes to be involved in, most aspects of his work. However, he also relies on leadership structure to gather more information of the work processes. Although he displays respect for other workers under him, he does not have compassion and passion towards them. His mode of interaction with subordinates is strictly on duty basis. He is a tough leader who does not have interest in the affairs or well-being of other employees. He is more focused on accomplishment of tasks rather than affairs of the workers.
There are various ways that a leader uses to influence other workers. While he does not have a direct influence on resources, he is involved in allocation in the surgery unit. Besides, his recommendations can be used to deny the workers resources. She is involved in allocation of resources to area that favor his interest. Therefore, people working under him have massive respect for him. Notably, they fulfil all directions as guided to avoid punishment. The leader thus utilizes his power in the right way to achieve results that are desirable from his followers.
Nadja West utilizes various forms of reward and punishment systems to gain power and influence the workers under him. He values adherence to his instructions. Workers that continuously fail to observe his directives are punished by being demoted to other duties that are not related to clinical practice. There are instances where he places some workers on other military duties that run for 24 hour. Those that match his expectations are promoted within the military clinical practice. They are also not involved in involving tasks.
The Lt. General is not directly concerned with the recruitment of employees into the organization. However, he can influence their promotion based on their behavior and ability to follow directions. However, he is not so much concerned with the development of the employees. As long as one is doing the right roles as demanded by the tasks they continue working under the general. In terms of role modelling, it does not apply to his position. He is mainly concerned with doing things as they should be done rather than influencing the workers by giving the examples.
William D. Pitchford – Chief Human Resources
William Pitchford is directly involved with the human resource of the organization and is thus makes direct decisions in the organization. Workers who are recruited have to indicate possession of the ability to fulfil organization tasks. They should also be able to maintain and observe culture of the organization. William has designed a strict recruitment procedure that aims at identifying employees who have the potential to meet the company requirements. The new workers have to undergo a probation period to determine their suitability for their tasks. Those who fail to match expectations are relieved from their duties at the end of probation period.
William undertakes allocation of resources used in conducting recruitment as well as training and development of the workers. The resources are given to the recruitment teams as well as the management cohort involved in determining employee’s training needs and the actual training process (Fischer, Dietz & Antonakis, 2017). He is also directly involved in rewarding of employees. All employees identified to be creative are forwarded to him. He observes them for a period of time and compares his report with the ones made by other leaders. An employee is then considered for promotion or a leadership responsibility.
William has employed a democratic style of leadership in the organization and thus acts as a role model to all other workers by doing required tasks and directly showing them how a task should be handled. Employees are thus able to participate in decision-making processes and determine organization direction. Workers feel included in the organization and are thus motivated to realize organization’s objectives without engagement in strict supervisory practices.
Francine Barr – President St Mary’s Hospital
Francine Barr is the sole decision make of St Mary’s hospital. Most decisions are enacted in consultation with the top leadership and management. Other workers in the organization receive direction on what they should do for the organization. There is no direct contact between subordinates and the president. He is also directly involved in allocation of organization’s resources to various departments. He works in conjunction with other departmental leaders to decide how resources are shared in the organization.
The president is indirectly involved in selection and promotion of employees. Most selection and promotion tasks are conducted by the department leaders. He only participates in endorsing the promotions. He is directly involved in the reward system. He makes decision on monetary rewards that should be given to the employees. The president is however does take part in role modelling.
Strengths and Weaknesses of the Influence Processes
The influence processes employed by leaders can either yield positive or negative results. In the case of Lt. General Nadja West, the authoritarian approach works best due to the army’s leadership structure. However, it may not be productive in other settings. William Pitchford influence processes are suitable for his role as a chief human resources officer. His involvement in direct decisions helps in maintaining organization’s culture thus facilitating realization of mission and vision of the organization (Allen, Porter & Angle, 2016). He also partakes in the reward system as well as promotion of the employees. The democratic processes used in leadership inspire employees to work towards realization of organization’s objectives. However, the influence processes employed by Francine Barr may be counterproductive due to nature of the organization. Employee’s views should be incorporated more in the processes of decision making so that workers can feel included in the organization.
A summary of the key attributes of the influence processes employed by the leaders to effect positive organizational change or improved performance
The leader mainly utilizes direct systems and selection and promotion. The key attributes of direct systems involved use of democratic system of communication by William Pitchford and authoritarian system by Nadja West. A democratic system worked well for William due to his leadership position and type of organization. On the other hand, authoritarian rule was also a best fit for the army due to its leadership structure. The subordinates are required to follow directions without question. The key attributes of selection and promotion involved selecting candidates best suited to accomplish organizational goals. The leaders ensure that people recruited had relevant skills and experiences for the tasks. Those who exhibited exemplary behavior and knowledge of their tasks were promoted to higher positions. Others were elevated to leadership positions. The initiative increased level of commitment to tasks.
Conclusion
Influence processes are key in leadership in exhibiting desired behavior towards workers. Depending on the organizational culture, training, environment, and the background of a leader, figureheads may use varying influence processes based on results that need to be achieved. In a military culture such as that in Nadja West, employing an authoritarian style of leadership is highly productive. Organizations have structures that promote success of the employed leadership style. There are less rewards used to influence members. However, in a corporate environment such as the one chaperoned by William Pitchford and Francine Barr, it is necessary to utilize leadership processes that incorporate subordinate workers opinions. The reward system and selection and promotion highly influences worker’s behavior.
References
Allen, R. W., Porter, L. W., & Angle, H. L. (2016). Organizational influence processes . Routledge.
Cranmer, G. A., Goldman, Z. W., & Houghton, J. D. (2019). I’ll do it myself: self-leadership, proactivity, and socialization. Leadership & Organization Development Journal .
Cyret, R., & March, J. (2016). A Behavioral Theory of the Firm. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.
Fischer, T., Dietz, J., & Antonakis, J. (2017). Leadership process models: A review and synthesis. Journal of Management , 43 (6), 1726-1753.
Leroy, H., Segers, J., Van Dierendonck, D., & Den Hartog, D. (2018). Managing people in organizations: Integrating the study of HRM and leadership. Human Resource Management Review 28(3), 249-257.
Smith, P., Haslam, S. A., & Nielsen, J. F. (2018). In Search of Identity Leadership: An ethnographic study of emergent influence in an Intraorganizational R&D team. Organization Studies , 39 (10), 1425-1447.
