Is Steve an influential leader?

[Ann]

Hi everyone,

I'm currently researching on influential leadership as my thesis and I thought it would be interesting to discuss whether or not you think Steve is an influential leader (I know that there are many influential leaders visiting this forum , but all of us know Steve from his PD and I might later request for an interview with him as methodology)

I am still in the process of refining the definition of influential leadership, but here's what I have come up with so far:

Influential leadership is the type of leadership that creates followers who want to follow as opposed to followers who believe that they have to follow

What are those qualities that make a leader an influential leader?

• Charisma - a ‘personal attractiveness; that enables you to influence others; an ability to arouse fervent popular devotion and enthusiasm

• Communication - Communicators take something complicated and make the message simple

• Integrity - being consistently honest, forthright, and ethical; doing what they say and saying what they do. They walk their talk. Followers need to be able to trust the leader, and without that trust, influence is impossible

• Passion - Every leader who is passionate about what he/she does is on a mission to share it with the world

• Authenticity - Leaders genuinely desire to serve others through their leadership. They are more interested in empowering the people they lead to make a difference than they are in power, money, or prestige for themselves. They are as guided by qualities of the heart, by passion and compassion, as they are by qualities of the mind

• Servanthood - Leaders want to be of value to others, contributing to the benefits of others, whether it is their employees, their business, their industry, their family, or their peers

From this list, do you consider Steve to be an influential leader? If yes/no, why? Lastly, do you define yourself as an influential leader?

Please keep this topic related to my first message since Off Topic messages can occur.

Also, recommendations of other attributes of influential leadership not listed is welcomed.

Thanks for your help everyone

[Andrew Michaels]

I'm not sure that I'd throw integrity into your definition of influential leadership. How do you explain the extreme success and cults of personality surrounding a number of influential yet morally dubious people? Every bloody dictator got where they are for with drive, passion, goals, beliefs, etc, but it's hard to see them as full of integrity.

[Akashic_Librarian]

ithink Steve is very influential, but not by his own admission. I think people put too much faith in his word.

[Ann]

Originally Posted by Andrew Michaels

I'm not sure that I'd throw integrity into your definition of influential leadership. How do you explain the extreme success and cults of personality surrounding a number of influential yet morally dubious people? Every bloody dictator got where they are for with drive, passion, goals, beliefs, etc, but it's hard to see them as full of integrity.

hmph, I didn't think about Hitler or Mussolini in my research.... they may not be ethical but they did walk the talk and its followers were able to trust them, no?!

Akashic_Librarian: Could you please expand on your comments? What do you mean by not by his own admission and people put too much faith in his words? Thanks

[mattsonn]

Steve certainly leads by example. An incredible school record, polyphastic sleep, successful blog...what more could a follower ask for?

[The Probabilist]

Originally Posted by Ann

hmph, I didn't think about Hitler or Mussolini in my research.... they may not be ethical but they did walk the talk and its followers were able to trust them, no?!

But do they fit the general definition you're using? Did the majority of people follow them because they wanted, or because they had to? If your answer to this question is that they should be part of your research then why isn't the topic simply 'leadership' as you're now using all kinds of leaders.

I thought the object was to focus on a specific kind of leadership that you presented a definition of. If you're deciding on dumping the integrity aspect of it then I guess the followers don't value that either.

[Ann]

Thanks for your feedback The Probabilist!

I wasn't planning to use Hitler or Mussolini... more like Princess Diana, Martin Luther King, Ronald Reagan, Suzie Orman as secondary sources and perhaps use Steve as methodology if we do see him as an influential leader?

Hitler and Mussolini fit more in the aspect of effective leadership.

[Adam]

It looks like, to me at least, that the key distinction between a 'good' leader, such as Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., and a 'bad' leader, such as Adolph Hitler, is their methods of provoking loyalty.

King taught peace. Hitler taught fear. Both of those can create an incredible amount of loyalty and solidarity, but the way that people follow these leaders was incredibly different. During the Civil Right Movement, people who followed King, vs. those who followed Malcolm X, where more independent, more willing to fight (peacefully) for their rights on their own and form their own groups. Malcolm X's followers formed closer ties, very rarely acting as individuals, but more as a mob where nobody was in control. Hitler formed armies based around fear and hatred, and very few people in his armies were individuals, with a few very sadistic exceptions.

[The Probabilist]

I'd say Steve fits exceptionally well. I can't talk about the charisma bit though, because I haven't met him and I picture it as something that can't be experienced through plain text alone. The podcasts do give some kind of an idea of how he is in person, but the other bullets you listed are far more apparent as part of his leadership behavioural.

[Alvin]

I heart Steve with all my hearts

[stephencp]

"Hitler formed armies based around fear and hatred, and very few people in his armies were individuals, with a few very sadistic exceptions."

Hitler was a populist and recruited people based on love of the "Fatherland" i.e. Germany. People did not follow Hitler because they hated Jews, they followed Hitler because he promised them a great country (indeed while blaming the Jews for some of the problems). Germany had already recovered from the Treaty of Versailles and was again competing with Europe again well before WWII started (i.e. before the Holocaust.)
With respect to "people in his armies", 99% of German soldiers (outside of the concentration camps) were like most other armies.

Stephen
Power-Book Library: Free personal development, success, inspiration and motivational classics
TSTN | The Success Training Network

[Jill]

Ann, I agree with your definition, and I do believe that Steve fits it well as evidenced by how quickly these forums took off.

[trekr5]

I'd say so.

He's authentic (from his writings and podcasts) and possesses charisma (again from writings and podcasts) .

Look at how quickly this forum took off. Lots of people in the blogosphere took notice and reported it. That's influence

[AndyMartin]

Originally Posted by trekr5

I'd say so.

He's authentic (from his writings and podcasts) and possesses charisma (again from writings and podcasts) .

Look at how quickly this forum took off. Lots of people in the blogosphere took notice and reported it. That's influence

In a society where we measure influence in "viewers," yeah -- I would agree.

But I think there's another side of the question to examine, which is the practical aspect of "influential leadership" as defined by Ann. She's listed some great qualities that would differentiate an "influence leader" from an "authority leader," but that doesn't tell us anything about whether he's any good at it. I consider Steve to have the qualities of an "influence leader," but that doesn't make him "influential." I'm not sure which question Ann wants to answer.

To look at whether he is influential, it's not so much a question of readership so much as how many people has he motivated to action? And more than that, how many of those people have been successful as a result of his teaching?

For example, Hitler would have amounted to nothing more than a crazy jerk had he lacked the ability to get people to act. But he's more what I would call a "charismatic" leader, relying on his ability to persuade than his example (influence) or his power (authority). Stalin is an example of more of an authority leader.

From that perspective, I think Steve has demonstrated that his intent is to lead according to the "influence" values listed, but he still has a relatively limited audience: People who read blogs about personal development. So it's up to Steve not only to become accessible to a wider demographic, but to appeal to a broader audience as well. But it's hard to judge the span how influential he is without gathering some real numbers, if that's what you're asking.

In answer to your final question. while I try to follow the values of influence over authority or persuasion, I have no aspirations of leadership. There is a need for effective, high-awareness leadership in the world. And there's also a need for...?

[Ann]

Thanks a lot for all the contributions so far. I really appreciate it

Originally Posted by AndyMartin

But I think there's another side of the question to examine, which is the practical aspect of "influential leadership" as defined by Ann. She's listed some great qualities that would differentiate an "influence leader" from an "authority leader," but that doesn't tell us anything about whether he's any good at it. I consider Steve to have the qualities of an "influence leader," but that doesn't make him "influential." I'm not sure which question Ann wants to answer.

I did think about the skills of influential leadership that can measure whether a leader is good at it or not: listening, reflecting, dialoguing, modeling, and use of self.

I was going to include it in my definition, but just like you said, the problem is that it's limited to people who read blogs about self-develpment. Since many of us have not interacted with him in person, it's harder to judge these skills.

To look at whether he is influential, it's not so much a question of readership so much as how many people has he motivated to action? And more than that, how many of those people have been successful as a result of his teaching?

Thanks for coming up with these questions. They are really helpful! If I decide to choose Steve as one of my data for methodology, I can use these questions as foundation as a survey for members of this forum.