Leadership is a very difficult concept to understand and define. There are currently more than 10,000 definitions of leadership identified and verified. Each of them brings a nuance, a connotation that makes it different from the rest.
However, one of the aspects that is most present and that, in my way of thinking is the one that most identifies with leadership, is THE CONCEPT OF INFLUENCE. By influence, we understand that way that the leader has to alter or modify the feelings, thoughts, attitudes, emotions, and above all, the actions of her followers. A leader must achieve this capacity for influence since without influence there is no leadership.
There are 3 WAYS TO BE ABLE TO INFLUENCE OTHERS;
- The first way is PRESSURE MECHANISMS. That is, the way to influence others based on the use of punishments, recriminations, sanctions and similar, in case of non-compliance with the rules established by the leader. Unfortunately, for a long time, this path has been the one most used by most managers and leaders.
- The second way is REASON. It is about the ability of the leader to influence his followers through the use of rational arguments. During the second part of the 20th century, much importance was given to this form of influence. At this time the pressure mechanisms have been losing force and the fact that the leader rationally and logically explains why a certain action has to be carried out has gained importance.
- And the third way of influence is the one that the leader has to influence his followers through THE MANAGEMENT OF EMOTIONS AND FEELINGS. The leader who can impact the limbic brain of his people, which is the part of our brain that manages emotions, has a much more effective influence capacity than the other ways mentioned above. In the XXI century, there is not enough with pressure mechanisms or rational arguments, the effective leader has to influence based mainly on the correct management of emotions and feelings (both of him and his followers).
And if we understand that influence is essential and essential in leadership development, the greatest degree of influence is that which takes place when the influencer is not present. If influencing is already difficult in itself, imagine how difficult it is to influence without being present. This is what the North American author John C. Maxwell presents in his book “The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership” as Law 21, the Law of Legacy. Maxwell says that the true value of leadership is measured in posterity, that is when the leader has left the company, organization, or institution. It is what is known as a legacy, everything that the leader leaves once he leaves, all the influence that he is capable of transmitting without continuing to exercise his position.
Some very good leaders have exercised a great deal of influence in the organizations or companies they have led. Some of them have left a frankly respectable legacy. But very few have continued to have a strong influence over time.
I have been thinking about who has been the greatest leader in history for a long time. Is there someone who has been able to influence as many people for more than 2,000 years as Jesus Christ? So, has there been more influence, that is, leadership than this? I have not been able to find another.
You don’t need to compare yourself with Jesus Christ, it is simply necessary for each one to reflect within their scope and think about what their influence is being. And above all, what will be your influence when you are gone?
WHAT WILL BE YOUR LEGACY?
