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Leadership as Influencing Others

Most articles and books on the topic of leadership indicate that it means
influencing the actions of others. Ken Blanchard, the author of a number of

books and articles on leadership has defined it as follows: In any situation in
which someone is trying to influence the behavior of another individual or group,
leadership is occurring. Thus, everyone attempts leadership at one time or another,
whether his or her activities are centered on a business, educational institution,
political organization, economic development organization, or family.
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Blanchard more recently defined leadership as the capacity to influence others
by unleashing their power and potential to impact the greater good. This is
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similar to Northouse’s defining of leadership as “a process whereby

individuals influence groups of individuals to achieve shared goals or commonly
desired outcomes .”13 The Army defines leadership as influencing people by
providing purpose, direction, and motivation, while operating to
accomplish the mission and improve the organization. The leadership
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role in an organization is assumed when an individual or group of

individuals has a clear vision of what needs to be accomplished and is able
to get the members of the organization to strive willingly for common
goals.

The most effective means of influencing people is through communication.
A leader communicates to his or her followers a direction that they should
move toward and tries to influence their attitude so that they will be ready

to move in that direction. This requires vision on the part of a leader and
the ability to guide people toward a common goal. Clearly, the capability
of the organization’s leadership to channel the energy of the members of
the organization to act on what needs to be done determines the
effectiveness of those leaders and the potential impact of the organization.

Obviously, a leader can only exercise influence if people are willing to be
influenced. It is also likely that the followers will not totally share the same
thinking of the leader. Despite this, they may go along with the desires of a

11 Hersey, Paul & Blanchard, Kenneth H. Management of Organizational Behavior: Utilizing Human
Resources (Englewood Cliffs NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1982), p. 82.
12 Blanchard, Ken. Leading at a Higher Level. Upper Saddle River NJ: FT Press, 2010. P. xvi.
13 P.G.Northouse, Leadership: Theory and Practice. Thousand Oaks CA: Sage Publications, 1997.
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http://www.uc.edu/armyrotc/ms2text/MSL_201_L10a_Leadership_Traits_&_Behaviors.pdf.
David Kolzow 11