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206 PART 3: THE PERSONAL SIDE OF LEADERSHIP

Exhibit 7.3 Ways to Influence Your Leader

Be a Resource for the Leader Help the Leader Be a Good Leader
Determine the leader’s needs. Ask for advice.
Zig where leader zags. Tell leader what you think.
T T Tell leader about you. Find things to thank leader for. r r
Align self to team purpose/vision.

Build a Relationship View the Leader Realistically
Ask about leader at your Give up idealized leader expectations.
level/position.
Don’t hide anything.
Welcome feedback and criticism,
Don’t criticize leader to others.
such as “What experience led
Disagree occasionally.
you to that opinion?”
Ask leader to tell you company stories.

example of Timothy Cook and Steve Jobs at Apple. Similarly, effective followers
indicate their personal goals and the resources they bring to the organization.
Effective followers inform their leaders about their own ideas, beliefs, needs, and
constraints. The more leaders and followers can know the day-to-day activities
and problems of one another, the better resources they can be for each other. For
example, one group of handicapped workers took advantage of a board meeting
to issue rented wheelchairs to the members, who then tried to move around the
factory in them. Realizing what the workers faced, the board got the factory’s
ramps improved, and the handicapped workers became a better resource for the
organization. 39
Help the Leader Be a Good Leader
Good followers seek the leader’s counsel and look for ways the leader can help
improve their skills, abilities, and value to the organization. They
help their leaders be good leaders by simply saying what they need
Action Memo
in order to be good followers. If a leader believes a follower values
his or her advice, the leader is more likely to give constructive guid-
As a leader, you can use strategies for
ance rather than unsympathetic criticism.
managing up to create an equitable and
A leader can also become a better leader when followers com-
respectful relationship with your superiors.
iment the leader and thank him or her for behavior that followers
You can help your supervisor be the best he
ppreciate, such as listening, rewarding followers’ contributions,
or she can be by getting beyond submissive
40
d sharing credit for accomplishments. If a leader knows what
feelings and behaviors, recognizing that
the leader.
lowers appreciate, the leader is more likely to repeat that behav-
leaders are fallible, and being a resource for
One employee working for a micromanaging boss who was al-
s negative found that the key to helping him be a better leader
to model the behavior she wanted from the boss. Rather than
pushing back when he micromanaged, she was cheerful and helpful.
Rather than complaining, she started acting like he was “the world’s best boss
with the world’s best employee.” This approach gradually infl uenced the boss’s
behavior in such a way that he displayed greater trust toward the employee and