Infuence and Leadership

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ts a concern that dates back to Machiavelli and beyond: As a leader, would
you rather be lovable or strong? Can you be both? These questions lie at the
core of this months Spotlight on Infuence (starting on page 53).
In the frst article, Connect, Then Lead, Amy Cuddy, of Harvard Business
School, and Matthew Kohut and John Nefnger, of KNP Communications, sug-
gest that behavioral science now provides an answer: Projecting warmth is
the key to having infuence. The authors cite research by Jack Zenger and Joseph
Folkman showing that leaders who are rated low on likability have about a one in
2,000 chance of being regarded as efective. Only after theyve achieved likability
should they focus on displaying competence, an equally critical characteristic.
Cuddy and her coauthors show that leaders who try immediately to project
strength run the risk of instilling a counterproductive fear in the very people
they want to inspire. Without a foundation of trust, a companys employees
may comply outwardly with their leaders wishes, but theyre much less likely to
comply privatelyto adopt the values, culture, and mission of the organization
in a sincere, lasting way.
And how can someone infuence change within an organization? In Network
Secrets of Great Change Agents, Julie Battilana, of HBS, and Tiziana Casciaro,
of the Rotman School of Management, underscore the importance of networks.
What matters most, they conclude, isnt where someone ranks within a com-
panys formal hierarchy but how well that person understands and mobilizes the
informal networks needed to efect change.
We also hear in the Spotlight package from Robert Cialdini, the author of the
2001 book Infuence and perhaps the leading social scientist in the feld. He pro-
vides some clear lessons on how to build and use infuence, such as his principle
of reciprocity: People will help, he says, if they owe you for something you did
in the past to advance their goals.
Adi Ignatius, Editor in Chief
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hbr.org
10 harvard business reviewJulyAugust 2013
From the Editor