Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)How can you best persuade potential donors to contribute money to a cause, convince the boss to give you a raise, compel people to vote for the candidate you favour, or get a teenager to keep her room clean? Terry Bacon aims to answer these kinds of everyday influence challenges in this book. Influence is part of nearly every communication and occurs in virtually every human interaction.
The author describes ten ethical influence techniques:
*Logical persuading - the most frequently used technique, but not always effective because nothing human beings do is entirely rational.
*Legitimizing - essentially involving appealing to authority, a technique which works only in situations where people respect authority.
*Exchanging - offering others something in exchange for what you want, a useful technique for those who do not have any other form of power.
*Stating - asserting your views or positions, the simplest way of trying to influence someone else.
*Socializing - building rapport and trust through interpersonal interactions, one of the most effective influencing techniques.
*Appealing to relationship - family and close friends are most likely to help when you need immediate assistance.
*Consulting - asking questions which might provoke insight and prompt change.
*Alliance building - providing social proof by demonstrating that others are in favour of a proposition or action.
*Appealing to values - an appeal to the heart rather than the head, inspiring people to action.
*Modelling - acting as a role model or teaching or coaching people, a technique used by people who are skilled at influencing others.
While I found the author's descriptions of the ethical influence techniques and those from the dark side (Avoiding, Manipulating, Intimidation and Threatening) useful, the process of reading the book was not as fluent as I would have liked. Most of the anecdotes which the author used were quite interesting, but some were rather abrupt and less relevant than others. The author indicates that most of his assertions are based on a survey which has been taken by more than 300,000 people from many different countries, but the assertion that "logical persuading" is the most common influence technique in every country in the world other than New Zealand where "socializing" is more important seems peculiar, and the material provided in the book and on the author's website are not sufficient to assess the validity of the results.
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About the book: We succeed in business and in life when we influence how others think, feel, and act: getting them to accept our point of view, follow our lead, join our cause, feel our excitement, or buy our products and services. The act of influencing is such a part of our daily lives that we often don't even realize when we (or others) are doing it. But to succeed, we need to know how influence works...and how to use it. Influencing effectively requires adaptability, perceptiveness, and insight into other people and cultures. Based on 20 years of research, "Elements of Influence" shows readers how to: understand why people allow themselves to be influenced and why they resist; choose the right approach for each situation; be influential when they have no formal authority; and, succeed in every kind of organization even in other countries. Filled with exercises and practical applications, this book shows how anyone can increase his or her influence to achieve greater success. About the Author: Terry R. Bacon (Durango, CO) is the founder of Lore International Institute, a widely respected executive development firm recently acquired by Korn/Ferry International.He is now the scholar in residence in that firm and is the author of many books including "Powerful Proposals" (9780814472323), "What People Want", and "The Elements of Power" (9780814415115).
