Theories in Action – Part I

One of the most fascinating and integral part of leadership that was covered at length in Theories & Models classes was the concept known as Idiosyncrasy Credit. Essentially, idiosyncrasy credit is the latitude that followers afford their leaders to bring about change and leave the norms of the group. If a leader of a group decides that change has to be brought and that in order to do so they must break group norms, they must “use up” (so to speak) their idiosyncrasy credit that they have compiled with their group. Idiosyncrasy credit is built up over time by the leader by being competent and conforming. Competence in the sense that the leader is good at their job, understand the tasks need to complete, and reacts to the needs of the group. Conformity in the sense that the leader follows the group norms and fits into the mold of the stereotypical group leader. Over time, by being competent and conforming, the leader can later deviate from the group norms and bring about change while receiving the “benefit of the doubt” from the group.

On the campaign trail, idiosyncrasy credit is essential to every campaign manager and candidate. Over time the campaign manager has not only completed the essential tasks at hand, but also has understood the needs of his interns (followers) and acted upon those needs. For example, something as small as knowing when to break for lunch and to get some water during a hot day of door knocking, shows us he understands our needs. This is competence. In another sense, the campaign manager has been conforming to his role. He is assertive, confident, managerial, controlling, and wise in his actions. This is conformity. By understanding what we need, being very good at his job, and following the traditional mold of what a campaign manger ought to be like, he has built a great deal of idiosyncrasy credit in us. In other words, because he’s good at his job and looks out for us, we are more likely to follow him and give him the benefit of the doubt when he decides to deviate from the normal course of actions.

The campaign manager “cashed” in on his idiosyncrasy credits when we called on us to try a new method of knocking doors. Instead of having the entire team head out together to knock doors, he split us up. It might sounds small, but this change was big for us and we were skeptical. Without his idiosyncrasy credit it’s not entirely out of the question that we would have pushed back and not followed him with eager. Instead, we trusted him and have him the benefit of the doubt. Turns out, he was right. The new method worked, but we would have never known had he never built his idiosyncrasy credit. And, without the T&M class I would have never even realized that this was unfolding in front of my very eyes.