One of my professional thrills is to have had the pleasure
of working with the world’s foremost expert on persuasion, Professor Robert
Cialdini for many years. I’m honored to
be the only Ph.D.-level Industrial-Organizational Psychologist who is allowed to teach his courses (Cialdini Method Certified Trainer) – you can watch a video sample
here:
To give you a taste of the sort of science that is behind our application, I
thought I would give you a small example of Cialdini's principles.
I have taught Cialdini’s course taught to leaders in the US, UK,
Australia and India. One of my students
was Infosys Board Member, BG Srinivas, before he was promoted into his current
role as President. BG liked the course
so much that he had his entire leadership team take it as well. About the course I taught, BG said
“This workshop is designed by Dr. Cialdini with whom Matt has been trained and certified to conduct workshops. It was found very useful to my team. The ideas and tips were very simple and impactful”
Here’s a very brief introduction. Professor Cialdini has taken his own
research, and 70 years of science and condensed them into just six universal
principles of persuasion:
Reciprocity- people all prefer to give back to those who
have given to us
Liking – we prefer to say yes to people who like us
Consensus – people look around at what everyone else is
doing to figure out what is right for themselves
Authority – we follow the guidance of trustworthy experts,
like our Doctors
Consistency – we make choices consistent with our values and
prior choices
Scarcity – we’re motivated to avoid losing things
It turns out these six principles can be learned, with the
right amount of practice, and are very powerful when used honesty and
ethically. Each one has special aspects
that make it significantly more powerful, and they typically cost nothing to
employ.
In 100 years of the scientific study of leadership, nearly
every definition involves persuasion and influence. Because Dr. Cialdini has shown that even the best leaders can improve
their persuasiveness, isn’t this a skill you’d like to improve? If so, we’d love to have you join our
campaign and learn these skills, and many more to really take your career to
the next level.