three ways to be more persuasive

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Three Ways to Be More Persuasiveby Judith A Ross

A NEWSLETTER FROM HARVARD BUSINESS PUBLISHING ARTICLE REPRINT NO U0812D





Moving projects orward in todayrsquos 1047298atter organizations

where cross-unctionality is the norm requires the abilityto manage up down and sideways Power and line

authority only go so ar

Tatrsquos where persuasion comes in says Robert Cialdini

Regentsrsquo Proessor o Psychology and Marketing at Arizona

State University and coauthor with Noah J Goldstein and

Steve J Martin o Yes 50 Scienti1047297cally Proven Ways to Be

Persuasive (Free Press 2008)

Much as martial arts combatants overcome their

opponents using leverage inertia and gravity rather than

brute strength you can persuade others by exploiting the

principles o social in1047298uence Tese include the eelings o

obligation generated between two people when one does

a avor or the other the tendency to say yes to people we

like and the desire to act in ways that are consistent with

our commitments and values

ACTIVATE RECIPROCITY

One good turn generates another Any avors you do

today are likely to be reciprocated down the road

Championing a colleaguersquos idea in a meeting when

others are giving it only tepid support

Sharing useul inormation with a coworker in anotherpart o the company who otherwise wouldnrsquot have

received it

Pitching in to help a teammate 1047297nish a presentation or

prepare or it

Donrsquot be insincere and donrsquot be cold-blooded people

will see through you and be on their guard Just look or

opportunities to be a good person You wonrsquot just eel

good yoursquoll create a network o indebted colleagues who

will actively look or ways to help you out

Reciprocity can also repair relationships that have gone

sour though not quite in the way you might expect I youare trying to mend ences with a colleague ask her or a

avor Tis sounds counterintuitive but it works Yoursquore

giving her an opportunity to see hersel as magnanimous

So ask her to help you out

Cialdini recommends that the avor be in keeping

with the personrsquos job and will make him look good From

his own experience he cites a time when afer winning

a heated debate about hiring he immediately reached

out to a colleague who had been in the opposite camp

Walking the colleague back to his offi ce Cialdini askedhim or advice on a paper he was writing ldquoHe gave me a

ew books and suggested resourcesrdquo he recalls

Labeling is especially effective with

someone who thinks highly of his own

decision-making prowess

In the course o that discussion Cialdini also learned

what the colleague was working on By the time he was

ready to return the books he had ound some resourcesto recommend in return thus cementing a positive

relationship ldquoWe didnrsquot have a pleasant exchange in that

aculty meeting As soon as my side won I could tell there

was likely to be bitterness But because I asked or his help

wersquove never been less than riendsrdquo he says

FOCUS ON THE OTHER PERSONrsquoS POSITIVE

ATTRIBUTES

Like reciprocation ocusing on a personrsquos positive

attributes is an ideal way to begin a relationship Tis

technique requires that you consciously look or

something you genuinely like about a person Even ihe is a terror at work there might be something you can

admire about his personal interests his past experiences

or the causes he supports

Once you have identi1047297ed the positive trait compliment

him on it By showing your approval you help him to like

you And that says Cialdini is when the barriers come

down ldquoPeople eel saer and are more open and trusting

with people who like them Tey are more likely to give

them the extra inormation that will help them succeedrdquo

Focusing on the positive can help improve relations

with a colleague you have historically disliked For

example a manager at a pharmaceutical company had atense relationship with her boss and the two were ofen

at loggerheads Using this technique she realized that his

tendency to hold work up was due to his desire to get it

right

When she complimented him on those values his

ace lit up Te next morning he gave her the kind o

inormation hersquod never shared beore a detailed heads-

up on what she should emphasize and be on guard or in

Copyright copy 2008 by Harvard Business School Publishing Corporation All rights reserved

EXECUTIVE TOOLKIT




Change in an Anxious Era continued

gaining buy-in at an important meeting that afernoon

ldquoWithout that inormation things would have gone

wrong In the process o saying lsquoI admire your high

quality standardsrsquo she also gave him a reputation to

upholdrdquo notes Cialdini He realized that i she appeared

in a positive light he as her boss would too

INVOKE THE PERSONrsquoS PREVIOUS OPINIONS AND

BEHAVIORS

When you remind someone o his previous position on

an issuemdashldquoRemember Mark how you argued that the

company should devote greater resources to educating

the sales team about the new product linerdquomdashhe is more

likely to behave in a way that is consistent with that

position Tis is an example o the phenomenon known

as labeling

o use labeling to in1047298uence someone yoursquore giving

him a reputation to uphold I you want his support ona proposal to shif more marketing dollars rom print

to online ad buys to drive widget sales invoke his track

record o preerring online advertising or items similar to

the widget You want him to perceive that supporting your

proposal is in line with his previous positions

Labeling as you can imagine is especially effective

with someone who thinks highly o his own decision-

making prowess

Tis technique requires amiliarity with a personrsquos

priorities values and stated positions I you have not

worked extensively enough with someone to gain this

insight review presentations he has given and discreetly

probe or inormation about him in conversations with

those who work with him more closely

In1047298uence is ultimately about relationships Te more you

have and the stronger they are the better able yoursquoll be to

bring others to your side when you want their support

Judith A Ross is a Concord Massndashbased business writer

Reach her at MUOpinionharvardbusinessorg

Reprint U0812D To order a reprint of this article call 800-668-6705

or 617-783-7474

4 HARVARD MANAGEMENT UPDATE | DECEMBER 2008

PERSUASION TACTICS IN NEGOTIATION

AND CONFLICT RESOLUTION

Learn about your counterpart Before you even get to thenegotiation table learn as much as you can about your

counterpart Pore over her writings Seek out others who

will share information about her

Search for commonalities Look for anything and everything

she has in common with you Back at the table that common

ground can help you break through deadlocks Studies show

that discovering commonalities among negotiating parties is

crucial to obtaining satisfactory outcomes for both sides In

fact people are more likely to help those with even a subtle

common denominatormdashsuch as a similar last name

For e-mail negotiations make social contact beforehand

A study of e-mail negotiations found that stalemates weresignificantly reduced when participants exchanged per-

sonal information beforehand ldquoThe opportunity to connect

in a human way and see some similarities helped drop the

number of stymied negotiationsrdquo says Cialdini



























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ATTRIBUTES


















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EXECUTIVE TOOLKIT












BEHAVIORS







as labeling









making prowess













or 617-783-7474





























BEHAVIORS







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or 617-783-7474



















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