Helene Vermaak, partner and consulting psychologist at corporate training company The Human Edge says that the same rings true at many South African organisations. "Considering the diverse culture in South Africa with many differing demographic groups, the concept of influence and the way in which South African leaders exert this requires even more attention. Finding a leader that is able to influence a company of dissimilar individuals effectively is very rare."
The online survey of 2,308 people from VitalSmarts, the international partner of The Human Edge found that more than half of the time, leaders do little or nothing to reverse dysfunctional behaviours at work. In fact, pervasive behaviours have become so tolerated that 94% persist for a year or longer, and a third report the problem has persisted for more than 10 years. The most common behaviours named were gossiping, shifting blame and 'turfism' - actions that serve personal interests at the expense of business results and end up sapping morale, lowering productivity and decreasing quality.
Joseph Grenny, co-author of the New York Times best-seller Influencer: The New Science of Leading Change, a VitalSmarts publication, says often when leaders attempt to influence new behaviour, they commonly fall into the trap of thinking deeply ingrained habits can be changed with a single technique.
"When leaders rely on just one simple source of influence to drive change, such as incentives or verbal persuasion, they almost always fail," says Grenny. "The most influential leaders realise there are six sources of influence that drive employee behaviour. When strategies within these sources are marshalled, leaders are 10 times more successful in their efforts to influence rapid, profound and sustainable change."
Grenny offers tips for how leaders can increase their influence in creating lasting change:
For more information, go to www.vitalsmarts.com.
