Authority and ways to maintain it – point by point
So, being one of the most important socio-psychological phenomena, as well as a universal means of managing a military team, authority consists of a number of components, acting also as recommendations for its maintenance and development:
1. It is necessary to improve the organizational abilities.
The development of cadets’ organizational abilities is largely associated with their participation in solving various service and non-service (interpersonal) social tasks, with the development of such a systemic quality as leadership. The performance of senior duties and other assignments contributes to the formation of the qualities of the leader and leader, which characterize the process of internal socio-psychological self-regulation and self-management of relationships and activities of members of the team due to the initiative of participants Effective management of the military team is achieved with the maximum proximity of the processes of leadership and leadership in the life of the team. The creation of the required unity depends on the behavior of the leader, who should be psychologically perceived by his subordinates as a leader, that is, the most proactive member of the team.
2. One should strive to be not only a formal, but also an informal leader
Both phenomena of “leadership” and “leadership” really exist, complement each other and mutually reinforce each other in managing people. On this basis and due to the complementarity of the phenomena of “leadership” and “leadership”, authority is formed.
Authority has the power of suggestion. The trust of team members in an authoritative person, increases the possibility of rallying people.
Taking care of authority means critically evaluating one’s behavior and seeing mistakes. Benevolent and honest criticism from senior comrades, coworkers, etc. does not harm an officer’s authority. The more effective an officer’s fight for authority is, the more clearly he represents the stages of formation and development of his official and personal position in the eyes of different categories of personnel.
There are three stages in the development of an officer’s authority:
a) officer – a source of information (the authority of authority acts, the officer acts only as a source of managerial, meaningful information for the personnel, his position is of little interest to anyone, the so-called situational stage);
b) the officer is a reference person (the subordinates are not so much interested in the information as in the officer’s assessment of it”, it is not accepted as incontestable, there may be dissenting opinions);
c) the officer is an authority figure (a high level of importance of the officer’s opinion, his opinion will be correct in advance and is accepted by subordinates as a guide to action).
Young soldiers perceive the officer through the prism of his role, position, and military rank, transferring the authority of the position to the personality of the commander as well. First-year soldiers are focused on the authority of the individual. There is a narrowing of the sphere of official authority.
The second-year servicemen’s orientation toward official authority decreases considerably, the officer’s personal qualities come to the fore, and there is a division into authoritative and non-authoritative officers.
Strengthening the authority of the commander-leader is facilitated by:
purposeful activity of senior officers, his closest assistants – midshipmen and petty officers, who create the necessary conditions for the emergence of strengthening his authority;
Explaining to the personnel the social significance of service, the role of leadership, skill, experience and other qualities of an officer;
constant self-improvement, self-education (self-improvement), and developing the qualities required of a leader;
creating in the unit a healthy emotional response to the commander’s demands, his endeavors, prevention of negative reactions from individuals or their collective condemnation, etc.
The main thing in this case depends on the officer himself, on his impeccable behavior, caring attitude to people, and style of activity.
A comprehensive characteristic of the activity of a leader – commander of a unit – is the management style.
Success is achieved not by a commander who possesses an “iron” will and a commanding voice, but by one who acts flexibly, taking into account the situation.
The unit commander must carry out his activities on the basis of the principles of military construction, military regulations, and knowledge of the social and psychological characteristics of the team. The most important condition for effective management is for officers to master a certain style of management. The following can be singled out as the main features that characterize a officer’s management style:
social traits: integrity, responsibility, connection with the military public and the involvement of the latter in management:
professional-organizational traits: scientific approach to managerial decision-making, initiative, perspective orientation, etc;
moral and psychological traits: unity of respect and demanding when working with subordinates, taking into account the opinion of the team, self-criticism, etc.
3. In management it is necessary to be flexible – this is the main feature of effective leadership.
Depending on the specific situation, the head should be able to use the advantages of a particular style of leadership and neutralize its weaknesses. However, keeping in mind the educational role of the commander, follow the recommendation.
4. In the educational process it is more correct to prefer dictatorship to collegial leadership.
This style of leadership, according to psychologists, has a favorable impact on the socio-psychological climate of the team, contributes to the formation of a positive attitude of its members to their work. In activities not related to the solution of educational tasks should be guided by the recommendation.
5. Optimize your leadership style. The optimal style is the style coordinated with features of psychology of members of a military collective.
If the majority of collective members are characterized by an individualistic orientation, then the predominance of democratic components in the leadership style is unlikely to lead to positive results Here more effective will be a style with the predominance of elements of centralism in the activity of the officer-leader But if collective members are characterized by a collectivistic orientation, reinforced focus on people (teaching staff of department, research laboratory, the officer team part and most effective is the democratic and even the military staff of the department. For a true collective always has the traits of autonomy. The more reasonable independence, the more creative activity the collective as an integral organization manifests. He himself forms the system of collective requirements in the form of norms, rules of interpersonal relations, judgments on various issues (public opinion), etc. The formation of the collective, thus, is associated with the development of the content of the system of requirements, which the head first imposes to the collective, and then the collective itself to its members. These issues in social psychology of management are considered in the context of interaction of the subject and object of management. Let us briefly dwell on these problems
To lead means to change the content of one’s requirements.
A.S. Makarenko considered the development of the collective as the development of a system of requirements. Requirements turn out to be not an external force in relation to the collective, but its internal function resembling human needs by its necessity. They play the role of those regulators of life and activity of the collective, which provides its prosocial orientation.
Let us consider the interrelation of the development of the collective with the development of the content n form of presenting requirements.
A.S. Makarenko, summarizing the experience of the organization of the collective, identified the stages of its development, knowledge of which is of great importance for the formation of a healthy and cohesive military team, for the formation of leadership style.
In the system of requirements there are: 1) their content; 2) the nature of presentation; 3) the volume of requirements, etc.
Thus, a leader must keep in mind the dependence of the development of the collective on the development of the system of requirements:
at stage I, the head, informing the team about their requirements, forms the personnel’s idea of the goals of activity, the means of achieving them, the nature of service and interpersonal relations (as he understands them), etc;
– at stage 2, the head presents the requirements to the team as if indirectly, through the asset, which enhances their psychological impact, there is an expansion of information channels, the head’s influence on the collective opinion, assessments, judgments, moods, etc. increases;
at the 3rd stage, the impact of the system of requirements “leader-collective” becomes intrinsic to this community of people, these requirements in the form of appropriate norms and rules of behavior, relationships become unconditionally obligatory for all members of the collective:
at the 4th stage of development of the collective, these requirements are imposed by the person himself/herself, they become norms, views, beliefs of the person himself/herself.
The head must present the requirements in such a way as to promote the development and cohesion of the team. It is necessary, relying on the collective, take into account the socio-psychological expectations of its members and the personality of the leader.
6. It is necessary to bring the requirements to all personnel, to achieve their assimilation and awareness.
This recommendation corresponds to the first stage of team development, further development is impossible until the system of informing the personnel both top-down and bottom-up has been worked out.
7. A system of feedback should be mastered: consideration of collective opinions and sentiments, business proposals, and personal requests.
Without this, it is impossible to manage the team flexibly, taking into account changing conditions and emerging situations. The manager must be focused on communication with subordinates. Received “bottom-up” information a manager must take into account in his work.
8. It is necessary to strive to translate his requirements into the “language” of the psychology of the team: relations, opinions, attitudes and traditions.
In fact, the management of the collective is the management of its psychology: the formation, development and correction of relations, the impact on the collective opinion and moods, the formation of “healthy collective traditions. The cadet can master the art and science of management already at the institute, but one should take into account.
9. Negative stereotypes of conduct and managerial communication shall not be followed.
A cadet must keep in mind the psychological law, which states that officer management style in future officers is formed by 90% of personal participation in activities and communications, by 50% of that observed (borrowed) from senior commanders and only 10% of that from the scientific knowledge and understandings received in the course “Military Psychology and Pedagogy”.
The officer, as a subject of management, is characterized by a display of his individd ual psychological, personal features in various conditions of activity, that is why a manager’s activity is a refraction of the external through suggestion.
The external (objective) conditions of a leader’s activity, which form the basis of managerial situations, include: the nature of the tasks facing the subdivision, the commander’s activity objectives, the preparedness of the personnel for the activity, the leader’s (subordinates’) awareness, the nature of relations, opinions and attitudes in the team, the traditions formed, and so on. Conventionally they can be combined into two factors:
The situation, the conditions in which he acts.
The style of a leader’s activity (decision-making algorithm) is predetermined by these two factors and differs depending on the complexity of the situation (simple situations – standard, complex and extreme). The process of making a decision in these situations is influenced by personal (subjective) conditions: the personality’s properties, abilities, emotional stability, propensity for risk, self-esteem, etc., the work style of the superior, etc. The influence of the second factor on the decision-making process is great. The personality of the head develops certain algorithms of activity (behavior and thinking). But in a number of cases, the level of education, experience and work experience are less important than the personal characteristics of the person making the decision. The more complex and responsible is the decision-making situation, the brighter the effect of the personality profile. When making decisions in especially complex and extreme situations, the personality profile manifests itself to the most significant extent.
10. It is necessary to expand the sphere of application of algorithms of activity.
These perfected (systematically repeated) decision algorithms allow the manager to pay more attention to the unprocessed decisions, which ensures the optimization of his activity.
Decision-making under certainty assumes that all alternatives and the future outcomes of each alternative are known.
Under conditions of risk, each decision may lead to many different outcomes, but the probability of those outcomes will not be known. The principle stands.
11. One should constantly study the state of affairs, to raise the awareness of subordinates. 12.
12. it is necessary to learn to organize one’s own work rationally.
In order to improve the scientific organization of work, it is recommended:
think through the activities for each day in terms of time saving;
make an accurate schedule of time expenditures, highlighting the main and secondary issues;
have a control sheet – a kind of memo of cases, reports, inspections, participation in events with the personnel, etc;
to analyze one’s habits and inclinations, cases when they were in conflict with the interests of the case:
To get rid of trivialities.
13. If success came thanks to circumstances, you have only yourself to blame for failure.
Thus, the personal factor out of all those influencing the style of leadership (style of a senior manager, situational factor, associated mainly with the characteristics of the team), is decisive and depends mainly on the organizational abilities of the person, on his training, managerial communication skills, the content of the socio-psychological attitude.
14 proven ways to increase your authority
Authority has to be earned – you can’t fool those around you by flaunting clever phrases and puffing up your cheeks at the right moments. But a little speed up the process is possible and even necessary. Stimulate the recognition of merit, so that we don’t have to spend years proving the obvious.
Before we begin this discussion, we need to define what it is to influence others. And what it means to you.
Let’s define it: Influence is the ability of a person or object to be an irresistible force or to produce an effect on the actions, behavior, opinions, etc., of others.
To influence is to compel or induce (someone) to do something. John Maxwell, author of many best-selling books, says that “To be a leader is to influence. No more, no less.”
If leadership is influence, then the reverse must also be true. So influence is leadership. Is it? I would add that influence only turns into leadership when it leads to positive results.
Meanwhile, influence can be exercised in two ways. It can be positive or negative. It can be self-serving and an attempt to manipulate others, but it can also be liberating and transformative. And it is up to our thoughts and actions to determine what it will be.
Influence is more than just the desire to be a leader or the instructions we give to those who listen to us. It depends on how people feel about us and what they see in us every day. It depends on what you demonstrate with your behavior, not your words.
Ways to raise your authority.
There are many ways to push the boundaries of your influence. I offer 14 ideas. I think they can help in the beginning:
1. The need for awareness.
First of all, you need to accept the fact that no matter what position you occupy, you influence the lives of those around you. Often we are not even aware of how we directly or indirectly affect others. It’s important to be aware of what we are doing and choose behavior accordingly.
Be principled and persistent
Let the person you think you are manifest in every action you take. Do not contradict yourself. Don’t look for the easy way. Create your image in the eyes of others and be an example to them. Your actions are determined by your aspirations, and your influence is determined by your actions.
Be candid and open.
Don’t play to your audience. Be authentic. Be honest. This creates trust, and trust increases influence.
4. Take responsibility.
Don’t look for excuses. If you make a mistake, admit your guilt right away. Being a leader does not mean being perfect. Learn from mistakes and lead others.
5. Look for solutions to problems.
Don’t sit back and complain about your problems. Instead, try to solve them. Those who can solve problems look attractive in the eyes of others. If you become such a person, you can gain credibility – because you will open up new perspectives.
6. Be proactive.
Don’t sit back and wait for someone to take the lead. Take action if you want to positively influence events. Become someone who proposes new ideas, takes risks and leads to a desirable future.
7. Step into the position of others.
Take time to understand the feelings of others. What is driving them to do this? What is troubling them? They won’t pay attention to your ideas until you pay attention to them. But you have to be sincere. You have to be genuinely interested. People are more important than numbers.
8. Appreciate others and don’t hide it
A simple “thank you” can do wonders, especially if it is said in front of strangers. Take note of others’ efforts, make a shining example for everyone to see. By doing so, you are influencing the actions of others by pointing out which actions are right and proper. We all want to be appreciated and praised.
9. How do you respond?
People notice everything. You can’t always control what happens, but you can control your reaction to it. And your reaction is seen by those around you. Don’t give in to your emotions, calm down, think about what’s going on. Be mindful of the results of your behavior.
10. Look for the good in others.
It may seem strange, but in order to avoid falling into selfishness and manipulation, you should use your influence for the good of others more than for yourself. Help those who follow you. Let your influence serve to bring out something good in others. You may see potential in them that they themselves don’t see. Help them discover it.
11. Follow the Golden Rule.
Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. Don’t think these are just nice words. Put them into practice. If you want to be treated well, first give others your good attitude. If you want to be respected, respect others. Set an example, and it will come back to you.
12. Learn to give back.
Don’t be afraid to share what you know and can do. Share with others, help others. Let others count on you to share your knowledge. Give easily, give often. Be the first.
13. Strive for the best.
“Normal” does not always mean “really good.” Set high standards for yourself that others will later accept. When we raise the bar for ourselves, we encourage others to do the same. Spend a little more (time, effort) and perhaps others will follow your example.
14. Create a common vision
People need to understand where they are going, they need perspective. You need a clear concept if you’re trying to have a permanent impact on others. You need to understand where you’re going if you’re going to pull others along. Be clear. Set standards. Have a dialogue.
Authority and influence are not one thing. It’s a complex set of abilities that takes more than a day to cultivate. As Andy Stanley says, “To be a leader is to be a responsible leader. you are responsible for everything.”
If we take responsibility for our leadership, that is, our “influence,” we can make that influence count.
