“Working with Eric was a pleasure. We developed a good rapport and established a level of honesty and trust. I valued his counsel and recommendations. I find Eric to be very competent in a variety of disciplines. He is able to correctly diagnose organizational problems and suggest solutions that are on point. I found Eric to be a professional with the highest levels of honesty, integrity, and ethical behavior. I would not hesitate to engage his services again in the future.”
Kathy Lueckert,
former Corporate Services Director,
Department of Planning and Development,
City of Seattle
(Kathy is now Director of Planning and Finance for Advocacy and Communications at World Vision.)
“I've worked closely with Eric on developing and presenting the Leadership Eastside community leadership program. He has that rare blend of extensive real-world experience along with a very strong background in theory and research. He moves easily between big picture strategy and the tactical details. Eric brings a superb ability to plan, execute and follow-through, both as a behind-the-scenes planner and as an upfront instructor and facilitator.”
Annalee Luhman,
founding board member,
Leadership Eastside
Conflict and change: The blog
12 January 2009
What Bernard Madoff can teach influencers
We’ve all heard by now of the fraud, deception and outright theft of tens of millions of dollars that was allegedly committed by the highly esteemed investment manager Bernard Madoff.
What’s interesting to me about the Madoff racket is how nicely it illustrates at least two principles of influence—principles that can foul up your influence strategy or, if used ethically, can advance it.
Those principles are the bandwagon effect (aka “social proof”) and the authority principle.
The bandwagon effect comes into play in ambiguous or confusing situations where we don’t feel comfortable making our own decisions and let ourselves be guided by others’ decisions.
It seems that many, many of Madoff’s clients invested money with him because so many other, reputable people had. In effect, rather than examine how on earth he was getting these kinds of returns, these folks assumed that since others were OK with it, they’d be, too. That’s the bandwagon effect.
The authority principle comes into play when we assume that someone is an expert and has access to special skills and knowledge—resources we don’t have. We rely on these experts’ opinions to guide our decision making. People thought Madoff was a particularly gifted investment manager, so they trusted his expertise without understanding what he was doing.
The Madoff investor shouldn’t be blamed for letting themselves be influenced by the bandwagon effect and authority. We are all influenced this way all the time. We need these kinds of shortcuts in order to function in daily life. We cannot take the time to check everything out to the nth degree. It’s impossible.
Still, the influence leader needs to guard against the bandwagon effect and the authority principle. In much more mundane, daily, situations, we allow other folks’ opinions—about people, the likelihood of something happening, what’s “feasible”—to affect us. That thinking can become very constraining. It can stunt our imagination and vision. It can cause us to act against our own goals and interests (by, say, giving up) and even lead to disastrous results—like Madoff’s clients are seeing.
On the other hand, the influence leader can use the bandwagon effect and the authority principle to help create and bolster support for their proposals and plans. Show the people you are trying to influence that others are doing what you propose. Make sure that your authority is apparent to people. Whether it’s formal education, board certifications, or “school of hard knocks,” let them know you know what you’re talking about.
As with any strategy, make sure that you are using influence ethically to achieve something that serves the interests of both people. Never use manipulation. It’s wrong, and it never works in the long-run. Just ask Bernie Madoff.
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