Influence impact on leadership

Influence impact on leadership

Influence is a fundamental element for the functioning of any society. It may be unnecessary but needed for overall growth. Influence, in essence, is the ability of a person to affect behavior change in another individual or a group. Impact is what makes a good leader. The interpersonal factors of an individual much determine the influence to be received. The beliefs and attitudes of an individual also, in a big way, affect the influence process and the feedback the receivers of individuals will receive(Dubrin, 2013). Most times, leaders use their power to influence power. Influence may come from the vision the leader has, if their content is inspiring and their values and attitudes.

Nelson Mandela used his education and belief in the freedom of Africans from the apartheid regime to lead his people to freedom. He was educated and understood the way of the white person but was still deeply rooted in his African culture to achieve independence. People of South Africa were attracted to his vision of liberty while maintaining his lifestyle and joined in the fight against the apartheid regime. Patrice Émery Lumumba, who was the first prime minister of Congo after the Belgian colonization, was a Pan-Africanist. He used his interests in literature to write poems and other literal works that had an anti-imperialism theme to influence his people to refuse the Belgian territory and invasion(Mueller, 2018). His influence on the people led him to be elected as the leader of NMC, the most vocal national party and subsequently the prime minister when they achieved independence. Thomas Sankara rose to leadership by influencing a group of like-minded young men to revive and modernize nationalism. Sankara used his vision of embodying the principles of nationalization into the modern world with high literacy levels, no diseases and empowered communities. His idea of a modern nationalized society is what influenced people to follow him. The influence process is what determines the quality of leadership.

Influence has a significant impact on leadership. The level of control a leader develops depends on the relationships they foster with those under their command. Personality and personal characteristics also play an essential role in determining influence because the behavior and attitude of the leader and subordinate much determine the direction the relationship will take. Nelson Mandela, as a leader, was leading from behind. It allowed him to connect to the people at all levels. He was able to listen and understand their challenges. Whenever there was an adverse event, he then took it upon himself to lead from the front by taking responsibility for the occurrence. The people were then able to relate to him much better because of this responsibility(Scott, 2014). The ability to be responsible and to connect well with the people influenced the people to be more accountable for their actions in the fight against racism in their country. The excellent attitude and responsibility by Nelson Mandela played a significant creating influence in his leadership of his people from the apartheid regime in his country.

Lumumba, in his leadership, used his influence in a big way to liberate his people from colonization and bad leadership. He was a free man who developed skills of independent thinking, perhaps through his interest in learning different subjects to liberate himself. He learned philosophy, economics and law all by himself to know more about what the colonizers were doing in his land(Zeilig, 2015). His knowledge of different subjects and the ability to freely think and act without relying on foreign aid played a significant role in developing influence to fight the Belgian regime in the Congo. Lumumba’s impact on the people of Congo enabled them to be self-sufficient in their liberation from the Belgians. They were able to see themselves as superior to provide the much-needed strength for freedom.

Thomas Sankara, as a military leader, used his charisma and army general skills to vehemently rebuke material, among other forms of corruption in Burkina Faso. The country was plunging into economic chaos. The appeal and firmness in enforcing the decisions he made helped in reviving the economy of his country(Benvenisti & Hague Academy, 2014).He spearheaded a movement that initiated a coup to overthrow a past regime that entertained and upheld all forms of corruption. Sankara’s charisma and stoic personality created influence he had on the people who worked with him to revive Burkina Faso until the event of his untimely death. People of Burkina Faso were charismatic and disciplined to revolt against bad governance in their country.

Influence processes are the ways leaders transform people and resources to be better. Role modeling is a method of influence process whereby the leader illustrates the desired behavior and shows how to achieve group norms. It creates a picture in the people of what they should do to meet the desired impact. It influences people by allowing them to rally behind the role model and model out good behavior. The allocation of resources is an influence process. The rewards system utilizes the process of awarding whenever a person displays the desired action(Vidyasagar & Hatti, 2018). It provides feedback by providing a platform for the leader to interact with those under their leadership by signifying success or failure. The reward system also creates relationships between the two parties since it provides room for feedback.

Reaction to crises is another type of influence process. In situations of crisis, the leaders take responsibility, become vocal, visible and resilient to avert the crisis. Leaders should also contain their emotions and provide hope to others when dealing with a crisis. Having access to information and honesty when disseminating the information creates authenticity in a leader, which in turn offers space for influence to prevail(Gerard & Kuklick, 2015).In providing information, leaders must uphold their values or those of the organization in which they exist to offer an example of responsibility to the society. When leaders communicate a precise vision to the people, they are giving attention to the people for them to develop an interest in the goals. Attention to common goals by a leader encourages the followers to walk the road of achieving these goals by following the leader. Attention as an influence process gives the leaders room to discuss their vision to the people in an ethical way and offers responsibility by leaders to their followers.

Nelson Mandela, Patrice Émery Lumumba and Thomas Sankara are all leaders who have made an impact in Africa. Their influence in the struggle for the liberation of Africa is something worth remembering. All were Pan-Africanists and believed in unifying and uplifting the people of African descent for the freedom of Africa. Despite the three leaders sharing the common characteristic, they each have unique factors that make their leadership stories worth researching. In identifying the research methodology for these leaders, there are outstanding qualities that make them different in their leadership style and overall historical impact. Thomas Sankara was an organizer, idealist and rigorous in his actions(Mumbata, 2018). He used his position as an army general to organize and execute a successful coup to overthrow the government that had impoverished hos country. Although he is long gone, Sankara’s legacy is written in books and journals and can provide insight to research on his leadership.

Nelson Mandela, on the other hand, was a strategist. He accepted to be educated by the white man and use the knowledge to fight the white man. Mandela relied on inspiration from different leaders before him, like Mahatma Gandhi and Chief Luthuli to execute his strategies. He opted to apply controlled violent methods for the regime to meet their political needs as a leader of the ANC party. Mandela, although was naïve in leadership, decided to seek inspiration and advice from other leaders to organize and strategize. While Sankara used organized violence as a pan Africanist to find freedom, Mandela sought to apply minimal force to liberate his country. Lumumba was a courageous and curious leader. He gained knowledge in different areas of study to understand the ways of the White man. He was bold enough to ask questions and seek to understand a concept(Alvinius, 2017). These are good qualities that are worth researching when reviewing historical records and books that highlight the life and times of Lumumba.

Thomas Sankara drew influence by focusing attention not on himself but on the things that he was doing for his country. He focused on growing his legacy and ideas on the intellectual, political and activist debates on African politics. By shifting attention objectively, he was able to achieve economic and political freedom for Burkina Faso and other African countries that were inspired by his works. Patrice Lumumba was working towards averting the crisis that was the Belgian invasion in the Congo(Day & Leggat, 2015). He was against the Christian doctrine taught by the Belgians, who still went ahead and mistreated the Congolese to the extent of even killing them. He drew influence from the education and upbringing by his parents to identify lousy leadership and the crisis it brought and worked to avert it. During his youthful days, Nelson Mandela looked up to Luthuli as a role model in his quest to fight for the freedom of South Africans. After his first meeting with Chief Luthuli, he observed his leadership and followed in his footsteps of slow, incremental development. He drew the influence from the chief and this dealt a considerable impact in his fight for liberation from the racist regime.

To impact their organizations, leaders and top management use different processes. The influence process also determines the performance outcomes of a company. Controlling the organization’s mission and vision of the organization is a vital strategy to keep the influence process of an organization alive(Luescher & Klemencic, 2016). Top management is sometimes the face of the organization. The senior management and leaders like the pan-African leaders listed above exercise control over the mission and vision and influence the culture of the organization. The direct relationship between management and leaders can affect power in making decisions and determine the environment and structure of an organization.

Allocating resources by the top management can influence the organization to perform its best. The senior management in organizations has a say on what areas to allocate resources. When the leaders and top management put the right resources in the right areas, the people under their leadership will be encouraged to perform their duties and do their best. It will also provide room for feedback to thrive in an organization. Selecting, promoting and dismissal of employees also serve as an influence process by the top management and leadership in any organization(Skendall et al, 2016). It is a form of rewarding system that may open a door for positive and negative feedback, which shapes the culture of an organization. Top management and leaders carry the life of the organization, therefore have a role to play in maintaining the culture of an organization.

Mandela was a wise leader who used different approaches from the conventional way in approaching certain situations. When he was in jail, he used the time in prison to meditate and think about the struggle for independence instead of harbouring anger and resentment towards the apartheid regime. Nelson understood that to change others, he first had to change himself. The moral leadership he developed while in prison influences the current and future challenges in the command. He sought to be the change he wanted to see in his people. He was attempting to develop strength by giving open discussions and negotiations with the oppressors for their liberation. Since the apartheid proponents expected there to be a civil war and bloodshed following his arrest, the opposite turn of events dealt a big blow to their plans.Although this was a wise choice, it also alienated him from the real world and may have made people feel like he had abandoned them in the struggle for independence (Northouse & Lee, 2016). It is for this reason that in attaining independence, he accepted that more diversity in races that live in South Africa was an inevitable occurrence. The effects of this diversity is present in the wars and conflicts that exist between Blacks and whites in South Africa.

Patrice Lumumba’s curiosity and courage to seek the knowledge necessary to fight for the independence of his people helped in influencing the people of Congo to find freedom. He believed in educating himself on different areas to understand the mind of the colonial master. Lumumba mastered philosophy, economics and religion. He realized that the thoughts of an African were as superior as those of a white man; therefore, the black man did not need the Belgians for their development(Mueller, 2018). It helped liberate the mind of the people to understand that they were strong enough to stand on their own. It has dramatically helped Africans to become self- sufficient. They use the resources present to ring economic development. Despite the self-sufficiency, Africans are more educated but still rely on the knowledge from the white ma. The number of Africans seeking higher education away from their continent is overwhelming.

Sankara shifted attention away from himself as a person and encouraged people to be influenced by what he was doing for the people of Burkina Faso. It affected the people to be development-oriented and not what Sankara as a person was doing. By shifting this attention, people remembered him because what he did was an inspiration to the people. In the world of today, there is a tendency by leaders to elevate themselves to be viewed as demigods who, in real sense, have done nothing to develop the economy of their people(Dubrin, 2013). While it is good to shift attention objectively, it may lead to a dictatorial kind of leadership. People may not be able to relate with the leaders as people and this may lead to hostility between the two factions.

Role modeling by Nelson Mandela provided him with an example of strategies to use to affect the change that South Africans needed. He was in constant communication and interaction with people he admired, like Chief Luthuli. Luthuli was very vocal in his decisions and he included him in the leadership of ANC. By seeking teachings and reading more on what the people he admired did, he was able to forge a revolution in his country successfully.Another attribute of role modeling is observable learning by the person seeking knowledge and inspiration from the role model. Mandela, while in prison, read a lot of books by Shakespear and Gandhi, who served as a role model in his quest(Anyansi-Archibong, 2015). Following the teachings and observations of his role models, he was able to lead his countrymen to independence and embraced the diversity in race present in the newly liberated country.

The crisis in Congo was getting out of hand where many people were dying in the cruel hands of the Belgians. Lumumba was emphasizing on change. A change from the involvement of foreign invasion in their land to self-rule by the people. Reaction to a crisis as a form of influence process seeks change through dealing with the crisis. Lumumba was mobilizing people to prevent further turmoil, as was evident in the lost lives by the Belgians. Reaction to crisis mobilizes people to avoid a new crisis or the impact of the ongoing crisis. The Belgians came to Congo to spread religion, excellent infrastructure and education but ended up killing a significant portion of the population. They also exploited their natural resources such as rubber ad exporting it to Belgium for their gain. Focusing attention on the things he was doing rather than on himself as a person significantly worked in the leadership by Thomas Sankara(Gerard & Kukclick, 2015). He focused on transforming the country into one of the best economies at the time. Leadership relies heavily on the influence process for the overall development of the people. Leaders in all areas should invest in the influence strategies.

References

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