Importance of Influence and Persuasion - Essay Example

Due to scarcity of resources, businesspersons and members of the community use influence and persuasion to acquire favors, secure better business deals, and/or acquire economic bargains. Secondly, in managerial positions, influence and persuasion play the role of driving authority such that leaders and/or management personnel can apply influence and persuasion to drive the sense of responsibility and to accomplish duties effectively. Thirdly, influence and persuasion plays the important role in nurturing and developing commitment from subordinates, colleagues, and seniors.

Through influence, managers or supervisors lead subordinates into committing their competencies to accomplish various duties and responsibilities. On the other hand, persuasion plays the role of amplifying the level of commitment. Thus, individuals in authoritative positions apply persuasion to boost the morale of their subjects and/or subordinates (Mind Tools, 2015). Influence and persuasion are considered beneficial in a number of instances such as in the above-discussed situations. However, influence and persuasion play a give-and-take role in most cases.

One major con of influence and persuasion is covered under Cialdini’s six principles of influence (Mind Tools, 2015). Among Cialdini’s principles is the principle of reciprocity (Mind Tools, 2015). As a downside of influence and persuasion, reciprocity forces the persuader to commit to obligations that must keep the other parties motivated to follow through with their obligations as well. In reciprocity, commitment from all involved parties is expected and consumption of unintended resources is inevitable (Mind Tools, 2015).