You have the power to influence the behavior of the people around you without them realizing it. But as Spiderman’s Uncle Ben once said, “With great power comes great responsibility.”
How Does This Power to Influence Work?
Everybody can wield this power, but only a select handful wields it knowingly and correctly. It all comes down to how you can subconsciously impact the people around you with the messaging you deliver. In Blink, Malcolm Gladwell describes this ability as “priming,” where individuals give subtle cues that cause subconscious reactions in others.
Gladwell references an experiment by psychologist John Bargh, who had participants in a study create sentences from different lists of words. One set of participants received words such as “aggressively, bold, rude, bother, and disturb, while another group received words such as respect, considerate, appreciate, patiently, and polite.” The participants were then directed to the scientist in charge to get further instructions, only to find the scientist in a conversation with another individual.
The scientists weren’t interested in the sentences that the participants created. They were interested in how long it took each group to interrupt the scientists to get further instructions. The results were striking when they measured how long it took participants from each group to interrupt the conversation!
The individuals primed for politeness never interrupted the conversation, while those primed for rudeness interrupted within 5 minutes. The scientists could influence the participants’ level of patience just by priming the two groups of participants with different sets of words. The participants’ subconscious minds took in the words they were given and created meaning through their level of patience.
Leaders and The Power to Influence Others
Think about what the results of that experiment mean for leaders and the people around them. Participants in that study were influenced merely by a list of words they had to use to create sentences. Leaders are constantly putting much more than a list of words in front of their staff. Leaders send out staff-wide emails, speak to them in meetings, and have one-on-one conversations with staff. If leaders aren’t careful and intentional with their messaging, their words could have unintended negative results. On the other hand, if leaders are deliberate and focused with their messaging, they set off a wave of positive energy across their staff.
Misinterpreted Negativity
Derogatory terms should never be used, but you should also be mindful when using words like worry, urgent, important, or necessity. These words could lead individuals to feel more stressed and frenetic. While you might be trying to promote a culture of accountability and urgency, your staff could be experiencing a wave of negativity. Now, this isn’t to say they shouldn’t feel a bit of pressure at times, but that we need to be strategic with our choice of words and when we’re using them.
- In the middle of October, a first-year teacher doesn’t need that added stress!
- You may need to use words such as urgent or important when it comes to a veteran teacher who has already gotten feedback about their lackluster performance.
Misinterpreted Negativity in Groups
Leaders should be careful to avoid any interpretation of negativity while addressing groups of people. I remember one situation when I was addressing my whole staff about the importance of arriving on time for meetings. I was stressing words like importance, urgency, and respect. Unfortunately, the people who needed to hear that message didn’t realize it was directed toward them, while those who didn’t need to listen to it were upset that their efforts weren’t recognized. Your message is only effective if the audience receives it as intended.
Leading with Positivity
It never hurts to push encouraging, motivational, and positive words to those around you. As a Principal, I used to keep a bulletin board of positive messages in my office, and I saw plenty of other staff members do the same in their offices or classrooms. Why is that? It’s simple. Positive messages make you feel good, give you energy, and motivate you to move forward.
- A struggling first-year teacher will probably be down on themselves, so finding something positive to point out could make a massive difference in their performance.
- A veteran teacher who is a consistent performer may have fallen under the radar and could benefit from some praise.
Getting in the habit of positivity is excellent because it works in all situations! Whether you’re with one individual or a whole group, you should find ways to leverage positivity for your messaging. Even if you’re going through a trying situation, there is always something you can be optimistic about.
Warning: Hiding Behind Positivity
A trap that some leaders fall into is thinking they must be positive with everybody, all the time, no matter what. By no means is this the case! They are hiding behind positivity to avoid accountability. Never avoid holding people accountable for fear of coming across as negative. A lack of accountability is the same as promoting a culture of negativity. You’re inadvertently sending a message that you don’t care enough about your staff to hold them accountable and help them grow.
A version of this article first showed up on February 14, 2017. Read it here.
