There is an "I" in Team Leadership; Idealized Influence Explained

This article discusses several strategies regarding the idealized influence principle of the transformational leadership model. Continuing the article series "There is an "I" in Team," we define and discuss the importance of emulating idealized influence and how it relates to leaders and followers in the workplace.

Idealized influence in the workplace

The leader behaves in a manner that serves as an exemplary role model for associates and impacts company values, ethical values, and worker performance. The 'idealized' aspect relates to role modeling after certain traits and characters of other people or groups. Leaders' idealized influence on coworkers can positively and significantly affect job performance (Bass, Avolio 1994). There are several behaviors consistent in the framework of the transformational leadership style in which leaders build their influential image with peers and colleagues, including showing genuine concern for people, role modeling as good citizens of the organization, and showing support for their peers. When combined, these behaviors are influential on others in positive ways.

Genuine Concern for People

Transformational leaders share a fair amount of genuine concern for their people by taking the time to listen and learn about what problems they have and what interests them. Learning about others is essential because displaying a genuine sense of care toward them will likely positively affect employee well-being and happiness (Sosik J, 2015). For example, consider The Disney Institute as a model for a leadership care strategy for your business on how to show care in the workplace. Unbeknownst to most, The Disney Institute has a unique website devoted to the business side of Disney. Their website overviews a list of operationalized care strategies designed to help transform workers and leaders into the best they can become. Leadership teams pledge daily to show employees care by practicing intentional listening. They make the day-to-day work experience as hassle-free as possible. They do this by asking employees what bugs them, or what makes their jobs challenging, and they react accordingly to make modest changes. And finally, at The Disney Institute, the leadership teams encourage peer-to-peer care among employees through peer mentoring and role modeling.

Role Modeling as Good Citizens of The Organization

Leaders empower their followers to go beyond expectations (Bass, Avolio, 1993). The idea of leaders displaying support for company ideals is a central tendency in providing idealized influence. Try showing people that you live as a role model worthy of their emulation. Demonstrate to them you would do (or have done) the tasks you desire them to do. Try to cultivate your ability to sense others' emotions and recognize when they might need a hand.

It is crucial, as a leader, to be a person who serves as an example that others can emulate. Sosik states, "trust, respect, and confidence from followers due to displaying idealized influence through setting and role-modeling the high standards of conduct for yourself and others" is the pinnacle of transformational leadership (Sosik 2015, p 27, p 164).

Practice role modeling daily in carrying out your company vision and mission, regardless of your level, by living up to and perhaps exceeding the ethical leadership standards written in the company's core values. Try sharing a meaningful story or connection from your own life experiences to show who your role model was to portray humility. Tell coworkers where you've come from, especially if you have a humble beginning. Share a few formative year stories of how you got to where you are now in your career and share moments of self-discovery with them. Share bravery by portraying mental strength and courageous moral character in times of change or rapid growth. Try to cultivate your ability to sense others' emotions and put yourself in their shoes.

Support for Your People

Strive to help support colleagues overcome turbulences and challenging times. You can do this by assisting them in prioritizing their schedules or simply by building up their strengths and practicing positivity in the workplace culture. Dependability and consistency regarding being supportive are essential to fostering idealized influence. Influential leadership impact increases in, "[leaders] who display… [principles of support] more consistently are perceived as more authentically transformational than those who do not" (Sosik, 2015, p 29).

Strive to demonstrate and build a genuine support structure for the needs and feelings of team members. Do this by ethically supporting and modeling company core values and portraying great character strengths such as kindness, fairness, prudence, and forgiveness. All-the-while actively building and instilling hope in the workplace culture. In turn, you inadvertently serve as the model leader you want them to become. Knowing follower perceptions are essential. Ask the people you lead how you are doing and ask them about your levels of kindness and support. The answers could serve as important elements in bringing out the best in yourself and others. Nurturing supportive aspects of the idealized influence principle will help adapt followers to grow into leaders (Sosik, 2015).

"The genuine kindness you show to your followers sets a very positive example for them to follow" (Sosik 2015, page 138). Sosik mentions that kindness and support also show peers that the leader recognizes and appreciates the individual's unique talents. In the spirit of teamwork, as a leader, give particular praise instead of generic ideas. For example, imagine a coworker has just finished a large, time sensitive project. Instead of saying, "good job on wrapping that one up," consider saying something more specific such as, "Thank you for making this happen. Your relationship building, insightful leadership, and attention to detail were top-notch. I appreciate your expertise and drive to reach our goals."

Bass and Avolio describe transformative leaders as "linchpins" to the organization. He refers to the binding aspect of a linchpin's ability to connect so tightly to the team that it would not function well without them. These are the highly influential leaders that bring and connect people. Bass states that transformative leaders are also "key role models who inspire others and create the desire to follow through with [tasks] based on their own personal integrity" (Bass, Avolio 1993). Transformative leaders usually set and display high ethical standards, enjoy being honest, open, fair, and principled, and they inspire others to live up to these strong values. Positive results in on-the-job productivity shortly follow (Bass, Avolio 1994).

Test Your Transformational Leadership Impact

The Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire (MLQ): 
is a short questionnaire that measures transformational leadership values and core virtues such as empathy, humility, and transcendence through evaluating your character traits and leadership behaviors. The questionnaire has also found a positive association between transformational leadership styles and organizational performance, and the effectiveness of leaders (Lowe, 1996). The MLQ is shared here as an opportunity to learn more about your leadership traits, perception, and how they relate to the Four I's of your leadership style.

For more information on leadership competencies, visit our Leadership webpage. For additional information on the Transformation Leadership style, turn to any of my previous articles on The Four I's of Leadership, or see the resources below:

References

Bass, B. M., & Avolio, B. J. (1993). Transformational Leadership: A response to critiques. In M. M. Chemers & R. Ayman (Eds.). Leadership theory and research; Perspectives and directions. San Diego, CA: Sage.

Bass, B. M., & Avolio, B. J. (1994). Improving organizational effectiveness through transformational leadership. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

Lowe, K. B., Kroeck, K. G., & Sivasubramaniam, N. (1996). Effectiveness correlates of transformational and transactional leadership: A meta-analytic review of the MLQ literature. The Leadership Quarterly, 7(3), 385–425. Doi.org/10.1016/s1048-9843(96)90027-2

Professional Development & Leadership training. Disney Institute. (Unknown author). Retrieved May 20, 2022.

Sosik, J. J. (2015). Leading with character stories of courage and virtue and their teaching principles—information Age Publ.

Sussex Publishers. (n.d.). The 4 elements of transformational leaders. Psychology Today. Retrieved June 14, 2022.