On numerous occasions I have talked and blogged about the necessity of affiliate leadership versus affiliate management, and particularly, the importance of adapting principles of transformational leadership.

I’ve also tackled this subject in my recent keynote speech in Tel Aviv, Israel, and today I’d like to show you the part of it where I discussed how you can apply leadership principles while working with affiliates:

Are you applying these principles in your affiliate program management? Are you practicing the 7 R’s, and are you being a transformational leader? Both of these can work wonders, and I highly encourage you to re-think your current management approach and style in light of these concepts. Obviously, this applies not only in affiliate program management situations, but in any management context.

With the Winter Olympics 2010 going on, and the first ice hockey match involving the Russian team (the 2008 and 2009 world champions!) coming up in just two days, I was happy to find out that one of the Russian channels I have here in the U.S. was going to have a biographical documentary on Vyacheslav “Slava” Bykov.

Bykov is currently the head coach of the Russian team, and he is already a true legend of both Soviet and Russian ice hockey. I myself know very little about ice hockey (I’m a European football fan), but am trying to watch every game the national team of Russia plays. So, it was great to catch this film on TV today.

With “Slava” Bykov, one thing especially hit the nail on the head for me — his style of coaching. Apparently, upon returning to Russia from Switzerland (where he first played, and then coached Fribourg-Gottéron) — when he was invited to coach CSKA Moscow — he stood out in his very different approach to team players. In contrast with the widely accepted dictatorial style of Soviet school coaches, he practiced an approach based on mutual respect between the coach and team players. Later on, when he headed up the national team of Russia, it was his approach that worked best. The reason for this being that when Russian players were returning from their NHL teams to play on the national team, Russian coaches simply did not know how to communicate with them. After being exposed to a very different approach in the West, these hockey players would not respond to dictatorship and tyranny in coaching.

The above illustrates a very important point. Coach Bykov is a true leader. He understands that while some players do benefit from the yelling and harsher style, many do not. The key to the hearts of most is in practicing respect, building a mutual respect as a result.

In affiliate program management (which many still mistakenly believe to be a task of “affiliate management”), it is precisely the same way — the managers that practice sensitive coaching and mutual respect are the ones that achieve more. Affiliates respect them in return, and want to do more for them.

All the best to the Russian hockey team during the Winter Olympics 2010 in Vancouver, and best of luck to every affiliate program manager that reads this post!

I’ve blogged about the differences between leaders and managers. I have also written about transformational leadership, and how it can be applied in the context of affiliate marketing. But today I have found an interesting diagram that shows how and when management, leadership, and transformational leadership can overlap (in traditional business environments). Here it is:

It is somewhat simplistic, but it’s in sync with everything that I have read, and written so far:

Management is about the mind. It is the manager’s job to stay focused on the task and goals, to set action plans, thereby helping followers deal with complexity.

Leadership, on the other hand, is more about the heart, or staying focused on the people and their individual characteristics, creating a shared vision that helps followers to participate in a change process.

Finally, transformational leadership is about breaking down resistance to change. This is done both through “assigning meaning to change” and through the change within the leader (him)/(her)self.

I have been comparing different theories of leadership over the past few weeks, and while many — if adjusted and adopted to the affiliate program management context — do fit, it is the transformational leadership that, in my opinion, is best suited for new affiliate program managers to keep in mind.

Just as the name implies, transformational leadership is one that provides for a process of change and transformation. This transformation happens not only with those who are lead, but also with the leader (him)/(her)self under the influence of the followers.

Bass singles out the role of the leader’s charisma as one of the key elements of transformational leadership (Hersen, Thomas, Segal, 2005, p. 350). Not all researchers share his view, and in looking into ways in which the transformational leadership can be applied in the context of affiliate program management, I believe we should exclude the element of charisma. The main reason for the exclusion being that charismatic leadership is not something that can be learned, but rests heavily on the leader’s individual traits, whereas all other elements of the transformational approach exist and function irrespectively of whether the leader is capable of, and followers are accepting the practice of idealized influence (aka charisma).

The other three elements of transformational leadership — (i) inspirational motivation, (ii) intellectual stimulation and (iii) individualized consideration — can greatly improve the work of affiliate program managers in a way that would facilitate productive transformation in both affiliates and the manager.

The essence of inspirational motivation is both in communicating high expectations to followers, and “inspiring them through motivation” to become continuously inspired and committed. This can be done through (a) appealing to affiliates’ emotions, and (b) communicating of the “integral role they play in the future” of the affiliate marketing campaign (Northouse, 2007, p. 183). Appealing to emotions, affiliate program managers can demonstrate successes of other affiliates (keeping names, and other sensitive information discrete), as well as underscore the role affiliates play both in building up the industry as a whole (examples of tax legislation bills freezing in Minnesota, Maryland and Hawaii due to affiliates’ efforts would make good illustrations), and the particular affiliate program.

The second transformational leadership technique that affiliate program managers should employ is that of intellectual stimulation. Traditionally, this approach “consists of encouraging employees to think for themselves, to challenge cherished assumptions about the way in which work takes place, and to think about old problems in new ways” (Snyder & Lopez, 2002, p. 721). In the affiliate program management context, managers should shape this method in light of the situational variables (see slides 10 through 23 here), stimulating affiliates intellectually respective of the level on which each affiliate currently is. Affiliates that are just starting with affiliate marketing will require more instructional and educational participation from the affiliate manager, whereas more professionally and psychologically mature affiliates can have higher and more complex level tasks discussed with them.

Finally, individualized consideration, when a special attention is paid “to each individual’s needs for achievement and growth” and the leader acts “as coach or mentor” is truly one of the cornerstones of successful affiliate program management. The key elements of this technique are: (i) creating new learning opportunities in a “supportive climate”, (ii) recognizing “individual differences in terms of needs and desires” and accepting these individual differences, (iii) providing for a “two-way exchange in communication” and managing “by walking around”, (iv) personalizing interactions with affiliates, (v) practicing effective listening, (vi) delegating tasks when the affiliate level allows for it, and (vii) closely monitoring “to see if the followers need additional direction or support” (Bass & Avolio, 1994, pp. 3-4). Just as it was mentioned while describing the previous transformational leadership factor, the key is in intertwining situational leadership with the practice of individualized consideration.

There is much more to be written on how the principles of transformational leadership can be applied in the context of affiliate program management, and maybe I will do an article on it one day. For now, enjoy implementing the above-quoted! It will undoubtedly yield fruit.

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References:

• Bass, B.M. & Avolio, B.J. (1994). Improving organizational effectiveness through transformational leadership. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
• Hersen, M., Thomas, J.C. & Segal, D.L. (2005). Comprehensive handbook of personality and psychopathology. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley.
• Northouse, P.G. (2007) Leadership theory and practice (4th Ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
• Snyder, C.R. & Lopez, S.J. (2002). Handbook of Positive Psychology. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.