BMA eBook - Manual / Resource - Page 92
Feser / When Execution Isn’t Enough / 4
Requesting is in use when a company leader gives orders to a team of direct reports
during a turnaround program, when a team leader asks a team member to get something
done, or when a sergeant orders a squad of soldiers to attack an enemy’s position.
Requesting—often referred to as “pressure tactics” in academic papers—is based on
the principle of authority, meaning that people tend to obey authority figures, even if
these authorities ask them to perform objectionable acts.7 The famous Milgram
experiments conducted by Yale University psychologist Stanley Milgram in the 1960s
explored the principle of authority. These tests demonstrated that people are willing to
obey authority figures who instruct them to perform activities that conflict with their
personal conscience.8
Requesting or command and control tactics may have negative connotations; in fact,
people often equate them with being threatened. However, requesting per se is not a
negative approach. It is just the simplest way to make a demand in a nonthreatening way,
leaving no room for negotiation, but also not suggesting punishment or other
consequences.
Typical statements by a leader using requesting are:
“I want you to inform Jack that. . . .”
“Could you please call Frank and . . . ?”
“I did ask you to inform him. Have you had a chance to do it?”
LEGITIMATING
Legitimating is slightly more complex than requesting in that a leader adds a
legitimation or rationalization for the command and control approach. With legitimating
the leader seeks to establish the legitimacy of a request or to state that he or she has the
authority to make it.
Legitimating means using authority or credentials to explain and influence, for
instance, when leaders show that what they want is consistent with policy, procedure, or
company culture. Leaders who refer to management directives, laws, rules, supportive
corporate authorities, or recognized experts are legitimating.
Typical statements by a leader using legitimating tactics include:
“According to policy, all air travel must be. . . .”
“The CEO has asked me to look into. . . .”
“As you know, it is a standard practice that. . . .”
