BMA eBook - Manual / Resource - Page 21
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Idea in Brief
THE PROBLEM
Typically, leaders emphasize
their strength or competence
in the workplace, which can
alienate colleagues and direct
reports.
THE LESSONS
This is difficult to do but not
impossible, depending on
your chemical and dispositional makeup. The authors
offer specific guidelines on
how to project warmth and
strength in various situations.
places lacking in trust often have a culture of “every
employee for himself,” in which people feel that
they must be vigilant about protecting their interests. Employees can become reluctant to help others
because they’re unsure of whether their efforts will
be reciprocated or recognized. The result: Shared
organizational resources fall victim to the tragedy of
the commons.
When Warmth Comes First
Although most of us strive to demonstrate our
strength, warmth contributes significantly more
to others’ evaluations of us—and it’s judged before
HOW WILL PEOPLE REACT
TO YOUR STYLE?
HIGH
Research by Amy Cuddy, Susan Fiske, and Peter Glick
suggests that the way others perceive your levels of
warmth and competence determines the emotions
you’ll elicit and your ability to influence a situation.
For example, if you’re highly competent but show only
moderate warmth, you’ll get people to go along with you,
but you won’t earn their true engagement and support.
And if you show no warmth, beware of those who may try
to derail your efforts—and maybe your career.
ACTIVE
ENGAGEMENT
PI
TY
N
IO
AT
IR
M
AD
PASSIVE
SUPPORT
PASSIVE
HARM
EN
VY
PT
EM
NT
CO
Most of us work hard to demonstrate our competence. We want to see ourselves as strong—and want
others to see us the same way. We focus on warding
off challenges to our strength and providing abundant evidence of competence. We feel compelled to
demonstrate that we’re up to the job, by striving to
present the most innovative ideas in meetings, being the first to tackle a challenge, and working the
longest hours. We’re sure of our own intentions and
thus don’t feel the need to prove that we’re trustworthy—despite the fact that evidence of trustworthiness is the first thing we look for in others.
Organizational psychologists Andrea Abele, of
the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg, and Bogdan
Wojciszke, of the University of Gdańsk, have documented this phenomenon across a variety of settings.
In one experiment, when asked to choose between
training programs focusing on competence-related
skills (such as time management) and warmthrelated ones (providing social support, for instance),
most participants opted for competence-based
training for themselves but soft-skills training for
others. In another experiment, in which participants were asked to describe an event that shaped
their self-image, most told stories about themselves
that emphasized their own competence and selfdetermination (“I passed my pilot’s license test on
the first try”), whereas when they described a similar event for someone else, they focused on that person’s warmth and generosity (“My friend tutored his
neighbor’s child in math and refused to accept any
payment”).
But putting competence first undermines leadership: Without a foundation of trust, people in the
organization may comply outwardly with a leader’s
wishes, but they’re much less likely to conform privately—to adopt the values, culture, and mission
of the organization in a sincere, lasting way. Work-
WARMTH
When Strength Comes First
THE ARGUMENT
Decades of sociology and
psychology research show
that by first focusing on
displaying warmth—and then
blending in demonstrations of
competence—leaders will find
a clearer path to influence.
ACTIVE
HARM
LOW
COMPETENCE
HIGH
