Have you ever listened to a speech by a local politician and wondered how they have not become the president already? This thought came to me last week. I rarely listen to political statements. I however happened to be seated in a certain office waiting to be served. There was a public forum being aired on television. A speech by one of the delegates caught my attention.

He exceeded my expectation. The eloquence in his speech could tell it was well thought through. The most interesting thing was not just the eloquence. It was the ease with which he caught the attention of the listeners. His art of storytelling was impressive. The stories were so relatable to the audience and spoke to their heart. They were not random stories. They were well cut out snippets to suit the theme of the occasion and the audience. This was accompanied with great oratory skills, audience referencing and humor. Needless to say I was glued to the television and almost missed my turn to be served. If he had made a call to action at the end of that speech, we would have all obliged.

That is the power of persuasion; the process of influencing another person’s attitudes, beliefs, intentions, motivations or behaviors without duress. Though this can be wrongly used in politics as propaganda, persuasion is a great aspect in leadership. Persuasive leaders can influence followers and induce certain mindsets and behaviors. This idea was cemented in my mind earlier this week. I was watching a documentary on the 1985 standoff between the FBI and CSA, commonly known as the Covenant. Let me summarize the intriguing story;

“The Covenant, the Sword, and the Arm of the Lord (CSA) was a far-right militant organization dedicated to Christian Identity and survivalism. The CSA developed from a Baptist congregation, the Zarephath-Horeb Community Church, which was founded in 1971 in Pontiac, Missouri. Over time, Zarephath-Horeb evolved into an extremist paramilitary organization and it was rechristened the CSA. The group operated a large compound in northern Arkansas called “the Farm”. CSA assassins monitored the homes of their targets, practiced mock assassinations of these targets with scoped rifles, and practiced attacks in a mock residential training facility known as Silhouette City; a 224-acre property.

In April 1985, law enforcement officers who were investigating the group for weapons violations and terrorist acts carried out a siege of the compound. The FBI obtained a search warrant for the CSA compound. Beginning on 19 April 1985, the FBI and the ATF, led by the FBI’s Hostage Rescue Team (HRT), positioned around 300 federal agents. On the morning of 19 April, they moved in and surrounded the CSA compound, putting some of their agents in fishing boats to seal off the lakeside area of the compound.

They waited, until a few hours later when two guards emerged from the compound. They appeared to be unaware of the presence of the officers and walked towards a sniper hold-out until an officer yelled commands to return to the compound, with which the guards complied. Later, an unnamed individual emerged from the compound and talked with the federal agents and reported to Ellison (The CSA founder). He reported that the FBI agents were outside and willing to negotiate his surrender and the emptying of the compound. Ellison emerged later. FBI agents had expected that he would not go down without a firefight, but the FBI negotiators convinced him that the CSA would certainly lose if they had one.

FBI negotiators convinced Ellison that they wanted peaceful cooperation, and he asked that his spiritual adviser, assumed to be Millar, come to the compound to instruct him. The individual was flown to the area and seemed eager to convince Ellison to stand down. They allowed the individual into the compound, and the FBI instructed him to call in every 30 minutes to report on how negotiations were going.

U.S. Attorney Asa Hutchinson, who later successfully prosecuted Ellison and other leaders of the CSA, put on an FBI flak jacket and entered the compound to join the negotiations. This led to a peaceful conclusion of the armed stand-off. After several calls requesting more time, early on the morning of the fourth day of the siege, Arkansas State Police entered the compound and escorted out the remaining members without further bloodshed. Women and children had earlier been evacuated to nearby motels.”

This is the power of persuasion and influence: Influence is the compass; persuasion is the map. In the words of the Attorney “it was either trust or bullet and we chose to build trust.” Persuasion is a great asset in leadership. What lessons can we pick from these cases on developing our persuasion skills?

1. Develop a positive relationship with your team members so that your opinions and direction can be heard.
2. Be knowledgeable on the topic you are attempting to persuade others on.
3. Explain your agenda in a logical and rational manner.
4. Encourage small commitments at first then build up on them for greater buy in.
5. Find out what the people value and show them how they benefit from the plan.
6. Have another leader or influential individuals endorse your initiative.

“Leadership is about persuasion, presentation and people skills and gentle persuasion succeeds where force fails.”