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What distinguishes the influential professionals in fast-paced, high profile firms from their equally smart, but less effective counterparts? Certainly they project a common sense of energy and passion. More interesting are the themes that emerge from their daily habits and business practices. And, as these firms grow to compete globally, the issue of understanding success factors becomes even more critical if they aspire to function beyond the judgment of the visionary founder.
Defining best practices has become increasingly urgent as many privately held firms have issued stock to gain the financial leverage to compete globally. In some cases, the advantage of the increased capital has been offset by the stifling effect of opening their businesses to the scrutiny of stockholders and financial analysts. This is particularly difficult in the fashion industry. The very foundation of their success lies in their ability to anticipate the next wave of interest and to identify a concept so compelling that consumers will pay a premium to be in that elite group of 'first to be seen with it'. Often the success of these admired influence leaders is attributed to their unique personal style or strong opinions. However, behind the top line fashion and bottom line finance orientations, a look at the influence leaders in these fields suggests common links in the 'public' aspects of personal influence and leadership.
A recent study of admired influence leaders, initiated by Dr. Joel DeLuca at Yale University, suggests that the real points of commonality in diverse outward appearances are demonstrated behind the scenes, on a daily basis, in less observed circumstances. Behind the Scenes Watch an influence leader and you " ll notice a wide range of success tactics. Some use the quick-study method and make many decisions during a day.
Others line up the choices then analyze and finalize the selection when the deadline demands. Communication styles range from loud to quiet and easily read to impenetrable. Often, the most easily observed elements of style, are attributed to the wide range of influence. One of the more controversial aspects of the DeLuca study concludes that personal style and communication skills, while valuable, are secondary factors in determining the success of an influence leader. More critical is the use of a "sixth sense" of political savvy. The sixth sense is grounded in a field of vision which views the organization as a complex collection of individuals attempting to act "rationally" as a group, in the face of driving factors which remain personal, and often conflicting.
This view of the organization creates a momentum to understand the points of view of each individual involved with an issue. One manager described this process as understanding the reasons behind the "but?" . Learning about individual agendas in an on-going way contributes to a more active information flow. It also helps to lessen the chances of being blindsided from a lack of support? either from subordinates or other colleagues.
The goal behind this information gathering is to identify areas of mutual interest or benefit. With colleagues who are competing for fixed resources, the mutual benefit may be both narrowly defined and situational. Here we enter the world of micro deal-making. The often unstated, but fully understood, contract: "I'll support this project and then it will be my turn next time. " With subordinates, a savvy manager links the individual interests to corporate objectives and builds motivation. The activity level of influence leaders shows that a few consistently different tacks in common business practices yield strong results.
These practices transcend industry differences and show striking similarities of admired leaders in finance and fashion. One overall theme that dominates the behind the scenes activity is that of managing risk of the 'corporate' political process in gaining support. Watching admired leaders and tracking their daily activities demonstrates a clear pattern of intense (while appearing casual) communication behind the scenes? away from the formal presentations and high stakes corporate meetings.
In fact, systematic use of risk management techniques far outweighed the benefits of strong charismatic personality traits or the pre-established political advantages, such as previously established non-business related personal ties (e. g. golfing). Systematic Informality Influence leaders show a marked preference for informal channels to discuss important issues and to gauge both support and resistance.
They favor informal settings because formal meetings or presentations often include more people with multiple agendas (many of them hidden) popping up simultaneously giving the presenter less control of the discussion. Also, when some professionals are in an "official" mode, they often are in the mindset of what the appropriate response should be, which may differ to a greater or lessor degree from what they personally think is right or best. In general, savvy influence leaders believe that they can gain a more honest reaction when the discussants are not playing to an audience. Informal encounters gain an importance that parallels their information value. While most professionals are calendar-driven, influence leaders are agenda-driven. Priorities on their agenda include casual focussed encounters with decision leaders.
Fostering informality often allows a more frank discussion of issues and provides influence leaders a clear advantage in the risk adverse, sometimes paranoid corporate political arena. Savvy influencers increase the chances they have of gaining an accurate picture of the sometimes unspoken, yet important personal concerns that are more difficult to gather in meetings with larger audiences. The pattern of systematic, spontaneous face-time often results in a more realistic assessment of climate and receptivity. A common link among successful influencers in both fashion and finance is finesse. The Power Game?
Who's on first? In the fire of group debate in corporate settings, personal credibility and perceived power are gained and lost on a meeting by meeting basis. Whether to engage in public disagreement is often guided by an assessment of acceptability of confrontation in that corporate culture. With bold, action-oriented firms, professionals can view meetings as an opportunity to display their courage, power, and character through their ability to successfully challenge and confront others. The confrontation factor is then identified as an important part of the personality of the firm. The DeLuca study suggests that how one treats the ideas of others may be one of the most misunderstood issues in business today.
Regardless of the combative nature of the culture, on an individual level a perceived 'attack' on one's ideas often results in an emotional response. Seldom is there genuine appreciation for the open sharing of weaknesses in logic with an idea that has personal ownership. How then, does a savvy leader ever get a point across in a group setting? An insight gained from tracking influence leaders is based on the concept of communicating a competitive advantage.
Gaining support for an idea then basically comes down to identifying a proposition that is better than the other good alternatives. The guiding theme of risk management is evident here. It is not necessary to make someone else wrong in order to be the selected choice. Savvy influence leaders weigh carefully the implications and long term risks of unnecessarily creating losers. Ideas to Action In the decision making arena, successful influence leaders consider two significant variables which others sometimes overlook or downplay. The first involves an assessment of the environment in terms of the overall appetite for risk.
What is the cost to one's career of making a mistake? The second relates to the degree of open communication. How much feedback is given? These considerations result in a more varied, less apparent pattern of making decisions and taking actions. In contrast, less successful managers are driven by their preferred style of action-orientation - "just do it" of the quick study, to those who prefer to array the choices and finalize selections only when the deadline demands. While influence leaders may be less predictable on the analyze-or-act continuum, their decisions reflect a more thorough understanding of the business environment.
A less impulse-driven approach results. Savvy leaders often strive to create an environment that breaks down efforts into manageable steps, maximizing the feedback and communication along the way. Lowering the cost of mistakes and increasing the feedback contributes to an engaging, action-oriented system for high motivation and a rapid development curve. The entertainment industry capitalizes on this principal on both product development and managing the careers of performing talent.
Consider a design principle of video games. A backdrop of intensity and action with lots of feedback and a relative low cost of mistakes. The ship blows up. You live on.
If you win in this task, your reward is to get a chance to do the task again. In performing arts, often a manager will try to guide a performer's career with judgments on what they are "ready" for. If they perform successfully, they have the opportunity to continue and gain more interesting work. In the faced-paced industries of fashion and media, the young, ambitious workforce is motivated by linking mastery to increased opportunities through frequent job changes within the firm. Savvy managers ensure that there are role models of promising talents who achieve meteoric rises through the corporate ranks. These high achievers motivate others, who see living proof of the concrete opportunity for their savvy efforts.
Not all situations provide the option for high activity and high growth. In an environment with little feedback and a high cost of misjudgment, more time up-front planning, rehearsing and considering contingencies is required. Corporate acquisitions illustrate this scenario. Highlights from Influence Leaders Consistent patterns mark admired influence leaders, regardless of their position within the fashion or finance corporate hierarchy. Their success can be linked to both daily business practices and an underlying view of organizations, which differs from their colleagues.
The overall perspective is based on a belief that any organization is a group of individuals, energized and motivated by their personal goals and self-interests. Collectively, these individuals represent a corporate view that achieves a balance between the conflict of individual interest and optimizing the goals of the firm. Sometimes, with hard work, trust, and the right leadership, an alignment can be reached that is magical. Most people have experienced moments of this level. Influence leaders see their job as managing the opinions of many decision-makers to maximize the degree of alignment. They then avoid the trap of simplifying or depersonalizing issues.
The workplace is a stage in constant play and can be more engaging and dynamic than any soap opera. With this fragmented and complex perspective, several themes emerge which guide daily business activities. The notion of planning based on issues larger than self-interests is key. Influence leaders come from a sense of enlightened self-interest and enjoy successful careers as an outcome, not an end-goal of their efforts. They focus on projects and goals that benefit a broader arena than pure self-promotion.
This facilitates linking agendas with other key professionals and growing a broad base of support. Risk management during the coalition building process is also apparent. Guided by an awareness of the all too human frailty exhibited by colleagues, they are not afraid of conflict but avoid open confrontation unless as a last resort and use meetings primarily to gain information and confirm next steps. Informal settings for communicating key issues and problem solving provide the forum for more open discussion, which is valued by the influence leaders. Contrary to popular belief, these leaders did not exhibit spectacular charisma or personal style in their corporate dealings. It is important to distinguish highly profiled exceptions from less visible examples.
While style may contribute to success in some situations, more important is the use of consistent, savvy business practices. Over time, these will raise the probability of success significantly. This may help explain those individuals who make high public splashes and then soon fade versus the more enduring day-in, day-out individuals who have lasting, impact ful and satisfying careers. Digging beneath the glitz and the glamour, the disparate worlds of fashion and finance continue their inevitable march toward integration. Whether the results will be contentious collision or cooperative collaboration will depend, in large part on the common principles and practices of the savvy influencers in both worlds.
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