Leadership

Assignment

The purpose of this assignment is to examine the ways in which different leaders

persuade their employees or others to undertake new ideas within the framework of the

Six Principles of Persuasion and/or Think Win-win.

Basically, you will be required to do some research to find stories and experiences

about how a business leader succeeded or failed to persuade others (customers,

business partners, employees or colleagues)

Note: please use a real-life case. Written cases from textbooks or any other sources

will not be considered as your own.

the Theories:

1. What Is Persuasion? by Scott McLean

Persuasion is an act or process of presenting arguments to move, motivate, or change your

audience. Aristotle taught that rhetoric, or the art of public speaking, involves the faculty of

observing in any given case the available means of persuasion. 1 In the case of President Obama,

he may have appealed to your sense of duty and national values. In persuading your parents to

lend you the car keys, you may have asked one parent instead of the other, calculating the

probable response of each parent and electing to approach the one who was more likely to

adopt your position (and give you the keys). Persuasion can be implicit or explicit and can have

both positive and negative effects. … presenting your audience with arguments in order to

motivate them to adopt your view, consider your points, or change their behavior.

Principles of Persuasion by Scott McLean

Six principles

1. Reciprocity

2. Scarcity

3. Authority

4. Commitment and consistency

5. Consensus

6. Liking

2. Think Win-Win

by Stephen R. Covey

Win/Win is a frame of mind and heart that constantly seeks mutual benefit in all human

interactions. Win/Win means that agreements or solutions are mutually beneficial, mutually

satisfying. With a Win/Win solution, all parties feel good about the decision and feel committed

to the action plan. Win/Win sees life as a cooperative, not a competitive arena. Most people tend

to think in terms of dichotomies: strong or weak, hardball or softball, win or lose. But that kind

of thinking is fundamentally flawed. It’s based on power and position rather than on principle.

Win/Win is based on the paradigm that there is plenty for everybody, that one person’s success is

not achieved at the expense or exclusion of the success of others.

Win/Win is a belief in the Third Alternative. It’s not your way or my way; it’s a better way, a

higher way.

The Report

Write a 3-4 page (not including title page or reference list) report describing what you

learned from your research. Use APA format with an introduction and a conclusion.

There should be 5 references at least.

In the report:

(1) Give necessary background information about the leader’s industry and

business, such as the stage they are at, the business performance and the

leader’s profile.

(2) Describe the specific situation in which the leader successfully applied the

principles of persuasion for positive results or the other way round. Make sure

you answer all the Wh questions including who, where, when, what, why and

How.

(3) Clearly identify the persuasion skills that the leader has applied by integrating the

case with relevant theories that are properly referenced. Analysis with world

knowledge or common knowledge will not suffice.

(4) Explain what you found most interesting in terms of the persuasive techniques

you learned about.

Guiding questions:

1. What is the situation and the position the leader is in?

2. What are the specific examples of how the leader needed to persuade someone

or a group regarding a project or idea? Specific times when s/he influenced

others, including the circumstances of the situation, what they did specifically and

the eventual outcome.

3. What did the leader do to influence others?

4. What do you identify as the most important attribute that this leader has or does

not have to be persuasive or an influencer?

5. How do you evaluate the effectiveness of this leader’s approach?

2 | P a g e

6. …think of your own question.

Rubric

Introduction = /10

Case description=20

Persuasion skill identification and analysis= /40

Conclusion = /10

Grammar = /10

Reference= /10

Total = /100

Percentage of total grade = 15%