WHY YOU MAY STRUGGLE TO LEAD OTHERS IV

In Biology, cells have proteins called receptors that bind to signalling molecules and initiate a physiological response and different receptors are specific for different molecules. For instance, dopamine receptors bind dopamine, insulin receptors bind insulin, nerve growth factor receptors bind nerve growth factor, and so on. So, receptors are generally transmembrane proteins, which bind to signalling molecules outside the cell and subsequently transmit the signal through a sequence of molecular switches to internal signalling pathways.

In the previous piece, I explained that influence happens at the three realms of life that each of us operates from spiritual, intellectual and physical realms. Those who lean more the spiritual realm would be influenced via spiritual matters, those who lean more to the intellectual realm will have themselves influenced via that route, and those who lean more to the physical realm would be influenced materially.

Bear in that these routes of influence are independent of the immediate needs of the people. Hence, for a sustainable influence, the pioneer leader must work towards understanding the personalities of the people he or she is leading. So, in this piece, just like I promised in the previous one, I will show you how to influence receptors to determine how people respond to leadership and how to activate them.

In our studies, we discovered that influence does not just happen unless the pioneer leader does something that directly relates to what people want according to their designs. So, because of how people respond to influence, and taking a cue from Gary Chapman’s work on love languages, we came up with the concept called influence receptors, which I wrote extensively in my work Leadership Tweaks: Pioneer Leaders’ Guide to Exponential Results.

Most of the difficulties pioneer leaders face with people depend largely on their inability to recognize how uniquely they should influence them (people). They also depend on their inability to pay attention, in a bid to understand how they (people) want to be shown that they care about them (people). So, here are the influence receptors based on Gary’s work:

·        Words of Affirmation

·        Quality Time

·        Gifts

·        Acts of Service

·        Physical Touch

·        Sense of Control

You need to understand that the people you are leading are a human being with a preferred and well-formed way of life before they started following you. Hence, they are your followers does not mean they will lose their identity to embrace who you know they ought to be as the transformation begins. So, since the goal is to transform them into their ideal selves, you need to access them via their unique influence receptors.

The influence that the pioneer leader has over the people can be boosted. This has been represented here as influence receptor booster capsule—the influence receptors of the people—that every pioneer leader must have and be able to administer to the people they lead, for effective leadership.

Each member of the leadership cycle responds to these capsules differently, a situation that makes the pioneer leader to first assay each of them while paying attention to the particular one that has the right effect on the people, based on their influence receptors.

The capsules can be categorized into the following:

·        Praise Capsule

·        Attention-and-Presence Capsule

·        Giving Capsule

·        Being-Served Capsule

·        Contact Capsule

·        Sense-of-Control Capsule

Praise CAPSULE

The people who express this receptor often love words of affirmation and words that accentuate a recognition that their actions are worthy of praise. However, this praiseworthiness is not measured by whether the action leads to success or failure. It is rather measured by the desire of the pioneer leader to see that the followers are able to take initiatives, without really focusing on the resultant effects of their actions on the overall outlook of the leadership.

Attention-and-Presence CAPSULE

The people who express this receptor often love quality time. Being physically present and paying attention assures them that you are genuinely interested in their growth and development.

Reward CAPSULE

The people who express this receptor, are often the most excited when you get gifts for them or the entire leadership team. They are attuned to material things as a symbol of expression of care towards them and would look forward to receiving such from those whom they believe should care about them.

Being-Served CAPSULE

The people who express this receptor often love to be served, because they love to serve and would desire that the leader reciprocates their gesture for them to feel they are part of the leadership. They would receive every act of kind gesture with great regard.

Contact CAPSULE

For the individuals who express this receptor, being around the leader gives them the feeling of being part of leadership. They appreciate physical contacts like a hug, pat on the back, shove over the head, and arms around the body. And beyond their desires for these, they would wish that you do so.

Sense-of-Control CAPSULE

Individuals who express this influence receptor, desire to be in places of authority in order to feel the relevance of being part of the leadership hierarchy. They love to lead others by all means and will naturally work their way through, utilizing every means possible.

Serious-minded pioneer leaders who look forward to having a sustainable influence on the people must, first of all, do an assessment of these people to establish their unique influence receptors as you have seen in this piece. In the piece, I will be discussing belief and how to ensure that everyone on your leadership team sustains the same leadership belief. The assessment can be gotten from my book aforementioned on Amazon.