In the present world, influential leadership is one of the essential forms that helps companies, organisations, and industries to work successfully. In contrast to formal control systems, influential leadership is about guiding and inspiring others through influence rather than authority. This form of leadership entails the development of healthy relationships, fostering trust, and motivating people to deliver a common goal.
Let’s take a look at what makes influential leaders different and how these people shape the art of influence.
Influential leadership is the ability to shape decisions, behaviours and results by influencing instead of direct power or authority. It calls for constructive leadership to promote trust and confidence, enabling them to lead by example.
Leadership of influence therefore entails understanding of the needs and motivations of others in order to influence them appropriately.
Below are few common fundamental principles of Influential Leadership Theory:
Influence over Authority: Leading by influence focuses on leading through trust and collaboration rather than through relying on formal power.
Relational Leadership: It builds good interpersonal relationships and uses emotional intelligence to address subordinates.
Effective Communication: Effective communication gives the leader the facility to put across ideas of the vision to the workers, while listening ensures everyone feels valued.
Empowerment: The autonomy provided together with decision-making creates trust in addition to accountability by leadership.
Lead by Example: The role of leaders is to lead by example and so the choices they make should be in conformance with the kind of behaviour expected of others in the organisation.
Adaptability: Leaders facilitate adaptation of strategies according to the received feedback and the new requirements in order to help the team remain aligned and enthusiastic.
In today’s working environment, traditional top-down leadership models are less suitable. Teams today are composed of diverse, self-motivated individuals who prefer to work in environments where they are empowered to contribute meaningfully. Influence leadership corresponds with these emerging trends by encouraging a culture where one feels wanted and motivated to give their best.
By fostering this environment, leaders can:
Encourage innovation: For workers to innovate, they need to trust their leaders and conceive them to be trustworthy.
Improve collaboration: Influential leaders ensure that organisational structural barriers of formal divisions are eliminated or at least reduced.
Build trust: The focus on relationships makes it easy to develop trust, which is critical for the longer-term success.
Promote long-term commitment: People get committed to the organisations that demonstrate commitment to them as employees – where their voice is valued, and their contributions are recognised.
Becoming an influential leader requires a combination of interpersonal and strategic skills. Some of the most critical influential leadership skills include:
Effective communication is considered as the foundation of leadership influence. leaders must be able to enunciate their ideas and vision in a clear, brief and empathetic manner. It is not only about delivering information to team members, but also listening and communicating in return, and being mutually understood. This leads to the creation of mutuality, where everyone is aligned with the leader's goals.
Empathy is important for being able to articulate feelings, needs and perspectives of others. Influential leaders have succeeded in showing an upright care and concern to the fate of their subordinates in creating a supportive and loyal culture. Empathy helps leaders to understand their team therefore enhancing their motivation, satisfaction and organisational commitment.
Emotional Intelligence defines the ability of a leader to moderate their emotions while acknowledging as well as addressing the other’s emotions. Leaders with good EQ can understand the interpersonal relationships between people and be able to solve conflicts efficiently. This skill enables the leaders to keep the members of the team focused and motivated even in challenging situations.
Influential leaders are capable of making sound and timely decisions. Strategic decision makers are those who are capable of understanding conditions and comparing and choosing the right options which would be of great benefit to the entire team. Reliable decision-making exhibits a leader’s competence and instills confidence among team members.
Adaptability is one of the key requirements in the leaders of today’s fast and constantly changing powered world. One should remain flexible, open to feedback, and adapt strategies when needed. Flexibility makes it possible for leaders to stay ahead of changes and guarantee that their team progresses consistently with the change, especially when the change is undesirable.
Leaders with influence are those who are able to envision the future. As they constantly disseminate this vision and make others have faith in it, these leaders ensure that their people work under proper direction to meet long term goals. Leadership is not only about coming up with great innovative plans, but also about having a great vision that unites the team’s efforts with a shared goal.
Leaders routinely find themselves in positions where they must influence others – their subordinates, shareholders as well as external partners. Influence in leadership therefore entails negotiation skills, because leaders need to achieve what they want, yet they also want to continue having good relations with others.
The influential leadership style focuses on the principles of relationship-building and collaboration within an organisation. This leadership style is not characterised by the provision of directions, but more about influencing, and inspiring them to take action. Influential leaders want to motivate individuals in the teams in order to create understanding, innovation, and responsibility.
Empowerment: Influential leaders assign freedom to their subordinates in making decisions and taking responsibility for their work.
Collaboration: These leaders create an environment that is collaborative where the members of a team convey their ideas and therefore encourage teamwork.
Respect: Thus, significant and trustful relationships are developed when influential leaders show respect for their team members' contributions.
Guidance: Rather than dictating, they act as mentors, providing assistance and direction as needed.
Over the centuries, there have been so many people who have exemplified influential leadership. Such leaders influenced and led people by example and brought positive change to society. Here are a few of the most notable influential leaders in history:
A prime example of leading by influence is Mandela who participated significantly in the elimination of apartheid system in South Africa through advocacy for equal rights amongst people.
During World War II, Churchill’s influential leadership style was characterised by his powerful speeches and determination. His work of mobilizing and encouraging the British people during the time of adversity was greatly essential to the war effort.
King’s leadership approach to the civil rights movement in the United States was best distinguished by his unyielding commitment to justice and fairness. His speeches and peaceful protests serve as influential leadership examples for future generations.
Ginni Rometty, first ever female CEO of IBM, reinvented the company by promoting innovation in cloud computing and artificial intelligence, leading with adaptability and a focus on empowering her team.
Warren Buffett, the CEO of Berkshire Hathaway, leads with humility and long-term vision, influencing the financial industry through his value-based investment philosophy and ethical leadership.
This publication seeks to analyze effective leadership principles of four US presidents—Abraham Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt, Franklin D. Roosevelt, and Lyndon B. Johnson—during critical periods in American history. As pointed out by Goodwin, these leaders met their challenges with great determination, courage and creativity.
Sinek outlines how leaders build cultures of compliance, which let organizations and teams achieve success. Key concepts of the book are servant leadership as well as the importance of creating a dedicated and loyal workforce by putting the needs of others first.
Brené Brown emphasizes important leadership qualities like vulnerability, courage, and empathy. She concludes that when one is genuine in his or her dealings with the team, one is likely to enjoy a good influence over the teams.
Maxwell outlines 21 underlying principles that any leader must embrace to establish the much-needed influence and impact. These are starting from the “Law of Influence” to the “Law of Respect” and all of them deal with how the leader directs and inspires the followers.
"Start with Why" by Simon Sinek
This book is based on how leaders who start with a clear sense of "why" inspire others and create sustainable impact. Sinek’s Golden Circle model shows how leadership inspires action by connecting their vision to a deeper purpose.
Unlock the Potential of your leadership skills with our Comprehensive Leadership Training courses. Learn how to motivate and inspire teams, build trust, and create a lasting impact in any organisation. Join the British Academy for Training and Development today and elevate your leadership to the next level!
What is the definition of an influential leader?
An influential leader is someone with the skill to motivate and help others to achieve shared goals. They have the skills to influence individuals or groups to behave, think and believe in certain ways and coined collectively to achieve success.
What is influencing leadership?
Influential leadership means the ability to affect the actions and decisions of others without commanding compulsory action through formal authority. Such leaders need to have a persuasion quality, good communication skills and emotional intelligence to inspire and guide teams effectively.
What are the three core elements in influential leadership?
The three core elements of influential leadership are:
Vision: The ability to have a clear and powerful future vision that sparks in others.
Communication: The power to clear ideas and carry other people along on the way.
Empathy: Recognising and feeling the emotional process of other people, building trust and strong relationships.
How do you become an influential leader?
To become an influential leader, one must:
Create strong communication abilities to speak well about ideas.
Becoming empathetic, authentic and consistent in actions can foster trust.
Set a good example, conduct yourself with integrity and take responsibility.
Generate relationships by understanding what other people need and what they are motivated by.
Develop a clear vision and convince others to be working towards it