6.4 THE ROLE OF GUILT IN INFLUENCING OTHERS
People who are successful at influencing others are highly attuned to the needs of their followers, prioritising others’ interests ahead of their own (Choi & Mai-Dalton, 1998; Conger & Kanungo, 1987). Increasing a sense of moral purpose is a strategy used by influentials to bring value and alignment of the various competing interest groups together. For example this could include the overarching mission of an institution, a team working within that organisation and the individual staff. Responding to a higher order is something that most humans find deeply motivating. It is also a way of eliminating guilt about being selfish when a person’s goals can be aligned to something wider than themselves …show more content…
131) Mentors can assist mentees experiencing intense guilt by assisting them develop strategies to show empathy and improve their conflict handling skills resolving conflicts. If these skills are developed, mentees are less likely to deepen the conflict and bring about some resolution even if there is no substantive change taken by the institution (Cohen, Wolf, Panter, & Insko, 2011). Mentees can bolster their influencing skills by assuming a stronger sense of responsibility for their action or collusion in actions that led to a conflict e.g. making a difference which may be related to a sense of guilt about “the way things are” (Schaumberg & Flynn, 2012, …show more content…
Mentors need to understand the source of feelings presented. Feelings that surface early may be symptomatic of underlying ones. The origin may lie in the knowledge of a failure to keep a promise with oneself or with others, a breach of contract if you like – legal e.g. a duty of care; psychological or a social one, or a combination of these. To illustrate, when a person decides to improve their performance or to apply for a promotion and they don’t achieve this, inevitably most will feel disappointed. They may even feel social shame if others become aware of it and this could be demotivating as some may not have another attempt to overcome the situation. There is much evidence, developed over a long period, to show this. Guilt is experienced psychologically (Izard, 1977; Lewis, 1971; Monteith, 1993; Mosher, 1965; Mosher, 1966; Piers & Singer, 1971; Wertheim & Schwartz, 1983) and socially (Baumeister, Stillwell & Heatherton, 1994; Hoffman, 1981; Hoffman, 1987; Niedenthal, Tangney & Gavanski, 1994; Tangney, 1999; Tangney & Dearing, 2002) because it is rooted in human