Rotman Management – April 2019

94 / Rotman Management Spring 20 19

me if I’m one person and they’re part of a group of 11; but

it’s a lot easier for a third person to join two of us, and for a

fourth person to join three of us.

Social psychologist Robert Cialdini has developed six

principles of persuasion (see previous page). In your

experience, which is the most important principle and

which is the most difficult to embrace?

It’s hard to say which is most important, but in my experi-

ence, the principle of liking is absolutely critical. The idea

behind it is that the others in the group have to recognize

that you have something in common with them. This can

be achieved in a couple of different ways. You can show ap-

preciation for them and use praise, but beware: There are

some interesting gender differences around using praise.

Research suggests that praise has to be considered sincere

in order for it to be effective — but that this is more true for

women. It turns out that men, on averge, are much more

needy of praise. Even when we know it’s not sincere or genu-

ine, it still has a positive effect. The key is to find a connec-

tion to someone so that you’re not just a business colleague,

but you have something in common.

Another important principle is reciprocity. Personally,

I always try to make ‘deposits’ in the ‘favour bank’ in advance

of ever having to call on them. Say a student tells me she

is looking for a job, and I know a former graduate who is

looking to hire someone with her skills. Without her ask-

ing, I will go ahead and bring them together. I’ve just done a

favour for both of them that was easy for me to do and valu-

able for both of them, and it’s going to make it a lot easier for

me to call on either one of them for a favour someday. I don’t

do the deed with the intention of calling in that favour —

because I don’t know if I’ll ever need to.

One of the challenges with using any of Cialdini’s prin-

ciples of persuasion is that, whether you’re using praise

or making deposits in the favour bank, you can be viewed

as a bit Machiavellian. We have this view that acting in

a political way is a bad thing; but the reality is, if you’re

going to be an effective leader, you have to use your influ-

ence. I would characterize that as the political reality of

organizations.

The first course I ever taught, 30 years ago, was called

“Power and Politics”. At the time, I was interviewed by Busi-

nessWeek, because it was an unusual course in a business

school. The interviewer said to me, “Teaching ‘Power and

Politics’ to MBA students seems a lot like sharpening the

teeth of sharks. How do you feel about that?” My response

was, “Politics is a reality in every organization. If you aren’t

effective at it, you can’t be an effective leader.” One of the

challenges of using these principles is making sure that you

A Framework for Transforming Organizations

• Goals


• New Behaviours


• Organizational Architecture


• Systems

DETERMINE

DESIRED

END

STATE

Stage One Stage Two Stage Three Stage Four

REINFORCE

AND

SUSTAIN

CHANGE

BROADEN

SUPPORT

ORGANIZATIONAL

REDESIGN

ASSESS

READINESS

FOR CHANGE

• Situational Analysis (Past and Present)


• Top Management Support


• Key Player/Stakeholder Analysis


• Change Leader Selection
  
  
  • Monitor and Reevaluate
  
  
  • Recognize/Rewind
  
  
  • Support
  
  
  • Showcase Success
  
  
  • Fine-tune Systems
  
  
  
  


• Goals and Tasks


• Structure


• People/HRM


• Rewards


• Information and Decision Support


• Communicate Need for Change


• Show Benefits to Employees


• Build Coalitions

FIGURE ONE

© Brian Golden