Principles of non-coercive management

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What do you associate with the words "persuasion" or "convince"? For most people, it's an attempt to get what you want from another person by any means necessary. If we want to convince a sales manager that all clients' contacts should now be entered into the CRM and conversations recorded, then we introduce a system of fines for ignoring the rules. And if we want to convince a child to sit down to do homework instead of playing on the phone, we promise to apply some sanctions or actually punish.

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But in general, it is not always necessary to be strict, despotic and powerful to achieve what you want. Quite the opposite: true authority and leadership are very rarely built on coercion. The ability to manage and influence minds, to convince of what you want without using force, threats or reminders of your titles - this is the art of management.

In this article, we will discuss what principles are worth knowing in order to manage people. At the same time, not to lose all your nerve cells in attempts to create a friendly team and make everyone work in a single labor impulse.

Principles of non-coercive management

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Let's get back to the topic. Richard Banfield has a book called "Product Leaders." In it, he tunisia whatsapp list explains why being a manager is not the same as being a leader. If you have a high position that formally grants you power, this does not mean that in practice you have this power. If you manage a team and give orders, it is not a fact that employees will carry them out properly or carry them out at all. Leadership must be earned, and not by status, but by actions.

This does not mean that a leader cannot command or give orders. On the contrary: if you are a leader, people expect you to use your right to manage. People always need a leader who will determine the vector of development. At the same time, power is not the lever that always brings the expected result. Without coercion, using "soft influence", you can achieve much more.

Here are the key principles of soft management that will allow you to win people over and get more out of your team.

Principle 1: Caring for others
Influence begins with trust. If employees trust you, then their opinions and work can be influenced: to persuade them to your point of view or to encourage them to do the work faster. But for you to be able to influence the team, employees must trust you. To do this, you need to do a large amount of work necessary to move from management to leadership.

Robert Cialdini 's book " Influence" describes tricks that help manipulate people and get what they want. One of them is called the reciprocity theory: if you give something to another person, they feel they should give something back and not remain in debt.

Principle 1: Caring for others

Sounds logical, but in practice it is not quite true. Influence is not a one-time purchase and sale transaction. You need to build long-term relationships with your team, in which they listen to you and trust your intuition. The “I-to-you, you-to-me” approach to relationships will not work here. You can influence a person in the long term using three qualities:

modesty, when you can admit your mistakes,
expertise or the presence of the necessary knowledge and skills,
and also cooperation.
If you help an employee, you will be helped in return. But only if the employee knows that you are truly competent, can admit mistakes and listen to the team. Then they will trust you. And this strategy works much better than mutual exchange.

Trust is not earned the moment you get a job, and it doesn’t last until you’re no longer a leader. Trust, like influence, is earned through actions: first, people like you, then they trust you, share your ideas, listen to your opinions, and share your views. This requires treating employees as equal team members who carry the same weight as you. There’s a saying: “Leaders eat last.” It’s also the title of a book about how to build a dream team.

And it seems that all this sounds quite trivial: to cultivate trust in the team, to listen to others, to respect other people's opinions. At the same time, managers, especially those new to this role, can intentionally or accidentally put a barrier between themselves and the team, creating a gap in the relationship. If you treat people simply as working hands, then this is exactly what will happen: your team will become just a certain number of working hands for you.