The Influential Leader
| Module title | The Influential Leader |
|---|---|
| Module code | BEMM259DA |
| Academic year | 2023/4 |
| Credits | 30 |
| Module staff | Professor Deborah Goodwin (Convenor) |
| Number students taking module (anticipated) | 50 |
|---|
Module description
"I want something to change...how do I persuade you to change?" This is the power question central to this Module. How effective are your Influence skills?
Knowing how to influence and work with change, negotiating, leading people through new ideas, influencing behaviours, achieving buy-in and consent, even changing ways of thinking- how important these aspects are in our professional lives. Influencing is a constant. Bit of an oxymoron statement there, but we realise that we all live in a state of constant flux. Personal, professional and global events reveal daily, even moment by moment, that reacting to changing circumstances is a lived reality for us all.
But how often do you think about the approaches you take, why you take them, test their effectiveness, or review your professional influencing toolkit?
In this practical skills Module we will work through proven influence skillsets to inform our understanding and persuasive skills to strengthen these important aspects of our leadership, and draw on insights from leading thinkers and practitioners in these fields. We will explore why change has to happen within organisations and the drivers for change imperatives, and then we will examine how and why we react as we do to change and identify reactions and behaviours.
By the end of this Module you will have greater insight into many behavioural aspects of Influencing and new ways to think about leading in these contexts. In addition, our aim is to allow you to learn about and to build a personal skills Influence 'toolkit' that you can use in these challenging circumstances.
"An influential leader is also a powerful change agent, without the need to use authority" Goodwin 2021
Influencing is a life skill- so can you afford to just ‘get by’ when here is your chance to excel?
Module aims - intentions of the module
This Module is applied learning and is lively and highly interactive as this subject requires. You will have ample scope to try things out, challenge and investigate, discuss at length, receive feedback and suggestions to help you develop your professional skills and confidence. Most importantly, it will facilitate your professional role where understanding and influence are crucial in order to achieve change.
During this Module we will also enter the world, albeit briefly, of people whose work everyday centres on Influence and examine how they approach this necessity as Influential Change Agents. We will also look at 3 roles which illustrate very different approaches ranging from immediate change/influence imperatives (hostage negotiation), using a supportive coaching approach (the Coach), through to a strategic thinking differently approach (Innovators)
Summary of Course content:
• What is Influence?
• What/How/Why? or Why/How/What? How we frame things influences how others respond
• Step 1: Me, myself, I
• Step 2: How do I/we understand?
• Step 3:Why should I listen to you?- skills and techniques(Active listening, rapport building, understanding interests, power of non-verbals)
• Step 4:Climbing the Stairs-understanding responses and decision-making, using the Behavioural Influence Stairway
• The ways we can be influenced
• Planning and Preparation tools
• ‘I don’t like it’ resistance, schemas, biases, risk and barriers
• Step 5:Trust me
• ‘I like it’ what makes people change?
• Step 6: Let’s move forward
• Body language
• Business, Environmental and Trade Negotiations
• Theories and Frameworks
• Podcasts
• Focus on a Change Agent: 1. The Hostage Negotiator -a professional context where Influence needs to be used to change someone's choices and actions in immediate crisis contexts.
• Focus on a Change Agent: 2. The Coach- a lighter touch and different supportive style
• Focus on a Change Agent: 3. The Innovators-out of the box thinking
• Influence Champions-formal thinking, views and recommendations
• Research tips and Advice
• Assignment information and submission
Here at Exeter, we offer you this rare opportunity to undertake an advanced module that will result in a personal professional skillset balanced with an appreciation of formal thinking in this subject.
Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs)
ILO: Module-specific skills
On successfully completing the module you will be able to...
- 1. Critically evaluate at least two key formal influence frameworks and two change frameworks
- 2. Demonstrate practical application of multiple influence skillsets and techniques
- 3. Demonstrate substantive knowledge and applied understanding of the main factors in influence thinking, changing behaviour and professional influence strategies
ILO: Discipline-specific skills
On successfully completing the module you will be able to...
- 4. Display considered appreciation of the core applied Negotiating elements of Positions, Interests, Active Listening and Influencers
- 5. Demonstrate the ability to understand and apply formal theories and frameworks to inform practical application in a professional influence/change context
- 6. Exhibit an appreciation of the relationship between knowledge and subsequent practice
- 7. Develop the ability to usefully and practically reflect in terms of personal negotiating knowledge and applied influence skills in a variety of contexts
ILO: Personal and key skills
On successfully completing the module you will be able to...
- 8. Develop personal confidence and expertise in specific influence skills
- 9. Develop informed self-awareness and better understanding of behaviours in others
- 10. Improve communication skills, emotional intelligence and listening skills
- 11. Strengthen personal persuasiveness and evaluating change imperatives
- 12. Appreciate factors such as risk, option creation, barriers to agreement, negotiating styles, emotions, and their impact on dialogue
- 13. Develop and build a tangible transferable skill-set for post-University professional contexts
- 14. Experience a diversity of option creation to assess and apply in context relevant situations
Syllabus plan
Whilst the module’s precise content may vary from year to year, it is envisaged that the syllabus will cover some or all of the following topics:
- The significant role of Influence and Negotiation in business, corporate strategies, managing people, dealing with conflict, conflict resolution and de-escalation approaches at all organisational levels
- Applied learning opportunity: undertake specially created multi-party business context simulation for students to apply learning and techniques and receive feedback (Exercise Superwidget)
- Deep analysis of significant negotiation case-studies, and approaches taken by various Influence Change agents
- Professional Active Listening and Negotiation applied skills
- Understanding human behaviours, biases and schemas in negotiation discourse
- Understanding yourself and others (biases and schemas) and what affects our thinking
- Persuasive and influential dialogue techniques
- Professional negotiation planning and analysis tools
- How academic theories and models usefully inform the practitioner
- By experiencing and evaluating real negotiations opportunities, you will critically assess what you see and hear to build your own influence skills
- The value and impact of the Plan B in negotiation
- The effect of trust and risk issues in negotiation
- The impact of applying different personal negotiation discourse/communication styles
- Option creation ideas
- Building your own Influence skills Toolkit and devising own dialogue strategies
Learning activities and teaching methods (given in hours of study time)
| Scheduled Learning and Teaching Activities | Guided independent study | Placement / study abroad |
|---|---|---|
| 0 | 0 | 0 |
Details of learning activities and teaching methods
| Category | Hours of study time | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Seminar & case-study analysis | Class contact | |
| Pre-reading | Preparation for core seminars, practicals and case-studies | |
| Case study and reflective analyses |
Formative assessment
| Form of assessment | Size of the assessment (eg length / duration) | ILOs assessed | Feedback method |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dyadic negotiation analysis (in seminar) | 1.25 hrs | 2,3,5,7,8-14 | Verbal |
| Self-reflective analyses (in seminars) | 1.25 hrs | 1-7 | Verbal |
Summative assessment (% of credit)
| Coursework | Written exams | Practical exams |
|---|---|---|
| 0 | 100 | 0 |
Details of summative assessment
| Form of assessment | % of credit | Size of the assessment (eg length / duration) | ILOs assessed | Feedback method |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6000 word research project | 90 | 6000 words (+/- 10%) | 1-14 | Email report |
| ELE quiz | 10 | 20 questions | 3 | Via ELE |
Details of re-assessment (where required by referral or deferral)
| Original form of assessment | Form of re-assessment | ILOs re-assessed | Timescale for re-assessment |
|---|---|---|---|
| 6000 word research project | 6000 word report (90%) | 1-14 | E-mail report |
| ELE quiz | 20 Questions (10%) | 3 | Via ELE |
Indicative learning resources - Basic reading
- The Mind and Heart of the Negotiator Leigh Thompson Prentice Hall, 1998 - 359 pages
- International Negotiation: Analysis, Approaches, Issues, 2nd Edition Victor A. Kremenyuk (Editor) Aug 2013, Jossey-Bass
- Peace versus Justice: Negotiating Forward- and Backward-Looking Outcomes / edited by William I. Zartman, Victor Kremenyuk. Lanham : Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 2005
- Getting to yes : negotiating an agreement without giving in / by Roger Fisher and William Ury ; with Bruce Patton, editor
- London : Random House Business, 2012. Description xxvii, 204 p. ; 20 cm
- Negotiation in international conflict: understanding persuasion / edited by Deborah Goodwin
- Imprint London : Frank Cass, 2002. Series Sandhurst conference series; 4
- Influence: the psychology of persuasion / Robert B. Cialdini. New York : Collins, 2007
- The Military and Negotiation: The Role of the Soldier-Diplomat Cass Series on Peacekeeping Deborah Goodwin Taylor & Francis, 2004
(This book is also published in Chinese ISBN: 978-986-02-4491-5)
- Social Psychology Michael A Hogg &Graham.M Vaughan Pearson Prentice Hall 2002
Indicative learning resources - Other resources
- Module Convenor has designed multiple resources containing mini exercises, summaries, articles and other useful information for use throughout the course
| Credit value | 30 |
|---|---|
| Module ECTS | 15 |
| Module pre-requisites | None |
| Module co-requisites | None |
| NQF level (module) | 7 |
| Available as distance learning? | No |
| Origin date | 08/09/2022 |
| Last revision date | 15/05/2023 |
