Ethical Influence

In our last post, we referenced the need for a framework of ethical leadership. Here we will discuss ethical influence.

There are many ways of defining leadership. Professor Peter Northouse defines it as “a process whereby an individual influences a group of individuals to achieve a common goal." But when we think of influence, we think of several unsavory connotations, like influence peddling and lobbying, and begin to wonder about the ethicality of influence, if not its legality. But are all forms of influence unethical?

To answer that question, we must first unpack the word "influence." Professors Habermas and Rudinow separately describe how leaders attempt to influence behavior and compel acquiescence to their will through persuasion (an appeal to self-interest), manipulation, or coercion. As we look at these three types of influence — persuasion, manipulation, and coercion — it is hard to escape the feeling that each of these forms of influence seems a little more ethically dubious than the previous version! But is there a more analytical way to understand the differences?

Professor Rudinow provides a very useful way of distinguishing between these three types of influence. And it comes down to the leader offering different types of incentives to the followers — specifically whether these incentives are irresistible or resistible.

When a leader looks to persuade a follower, she offers the follower a set of incentives in return for compliance. The incentives may take the form of money, time off, a promotion, social approval, or a promise to reciprocate at some point in the future. However, in all cases of persuasion, the person being influenced has the ability to say “no” and resist the incentive if they choose to.

This form of influence is on the up-and-up and is often part of how people and companies do business. Persuasion is the positive behavioral manifestation of a regulated and legal market economy. Nothing unethical about a bonus plan that requires you to meet certain goals and complete certain tasks!

On the other hand, if the offer cannot be refused, or in other words, the incentive is irresistible, we are no longer looking at persuasion, but are instead in the nasty world of coercion. Often in situations that are coercive in nature, the incentive is actually a negative incentive — as in something really bad might happen to the follower if he does not go along. That is, the follower has no choice but to comply. The Godfather would nod approvingly and call it an “offer you can’t refuse." Professor Sandel, in his book What Money Can’t Buy, is clear in his view that taking advantage of someone who doesn’t have any alternatives (such as offering money to a starving person in return for a kidney) while legal in some parts of the world, is coercion, and plainly unethical.

But what about "manipulative influence?" How is it different from its siblings — persuasive influence or coercive influence? Persuasion (ethical) and coercion (unethical) are strangely similar in that the incentives in both cases are in the open, and the information that is used to construct the incentive is plainly visible. That is, all the cards are on the table.

However, manipulation is more sneaky, may involve deception or the hiding of information, and often plays on the follower’s emotions and fears. For example, attempting to get his team to work extra hard, a manager may create a sense of fear by pointing to last month’s low sales, but may conveniently ignore other pieces of data that actually show the business is healthy.

Coercion is unethical for sure, but it is authentic. In contrast, a manipulative leader may feign to have the follower’s interests in mind even if the leader is treating the follower just as a means to an end. It all seems so Machiavellian!

But before you dismiss manipulation as always being unethical, ask yourself: What if you are manipulating someone because it is for their own good but they just don’t realize it yet? Or you are manipulating one person for the greater good of the team? What are the ethics of manipulative influence? It really depends on the ethical lens that you use.