Elements of Influence

Summary

Knowing how to influence others is crucial to your success. It’s found in the simplest interactions with your customers, suppliers, partners, bosses, subordinates, and colleagues, as well as your friends and loved ones. The act of influencing is such a part of your daily life that you may not even realize when you (or others) are doing it. But to use influence effectively—to inspire and convince others to follow your lead, share your point of view, or buy your products and services—requires adaptability, perceptiveness, and some insight into other people and cultures.

Based on 20 years of research, Elements of Influence reveals how you can:

understand why people allow themselves to be influenced —and why they resist • choose the right approach for each situation • be influential when you have no formal authority • avoid or handle skepticism, resistance, and rebellion • gauge how responsive someone might be to an influence attempt • determine a new course of action if the influence technique you’re using isn’t working • succeed in every kind of organization—and even in other countries.

Whether we’re nodding our heads, shaking hands, making a presentation, or sharing our ideas with a customer or colleague, hardly a moment goes by in which we’re not influencing others, or being influenced ourselves. Yet true masters of influence do more than attain mere compliance; they transcend it on a regular basis to achieve wholehearted, emotional commitment from others. More potent than passive consent, this enthusiastic and engaged response can even lead people to actively spread your message on to others, creating a powerful wave of continued support.

Elements of Influence demystifies all the fundamentals of influence—the basics you need to know in order to generate more positive outcomes in both business and life. You’ll learn how to pick up on the societal and cultural cues that reveal others’ hidden motivations, and unlock the secrets to getting what you want while satisfying others in the process.

Filled with exercises and practical applications, this book provides you with the wisdom, strategies, and techniques that will increase your ability to influence and achieve greater success.