Persuasion, Your Personal Hydrogen Bomb
How did our last two Presidents get their jobs? Neither had job-specific qualifications, neither were particularly good matches for the job and, considered from the standpoint of reason, it is odd that either of them got elected. How did they do it?
One word: Persuasion.
Scott Adams, the creator of Dilbert, writes one of the very best blogs I have ever read. A persistent theme of his is the power of persuasion. I have to agree. Here's a reading list. Here is a good, recent example of how he looks at a seemingly impossible situation, and wondrously comes up with a plausible way around the problem using only persuasion. Magic, pure magic. Fortunately for all of us, Scott enjoys sharing his insights, and has copious videos explaining exactly how to do it.
Ever been in a job interview where you knew you could do the job, but the interviewers were trying to disqualify you? If you got the job anyway, you used persuasion. The job interview was actually a test of character, not knowledge.
I blew the interview for the job I have held for the last seven years. One of the interviewers, now one of my best friends, did his absolute, engineer best to make me look bad. I still rib him about today. Knowing I had failed miserably, but desperately needing the job, I looked at the hiring manager, straight in the eye, and told him exactly what he needed to hear from me:
Eight little words saved my butt. Think hard about that.
Where did I get that from? Lord knows. It just came out of me, like Revelation. It was very persuasive. Years later, I learned from the grapevine that it was exactly those eight words that changed me from a failed candidate to the one that got (and kept) the job.
Learn persuasion. Start with Scott Adam's blog. Drink deeply, and practice until you totally internalize it and use it all the time. You will change yourself drastically, for the better. You will get the job. You will get the girl (guy). You will close the deal.
Among other things, you will begin to recognize other master persuaders, and will take them seriously. You will start winning, instead of always losing. You will become more powerful and effective, because you will begin to see life's everyday challenges not as problems, but as opportunities to totally turn things around, as I did years ago, using the exact right words, the exact right tone, the exact right timing. You will see situations you used to feel were problems as persuasion practice opportunities. That's exactly what they are. Onward!
One word: Persuasion.
Scott Adams, the creator of Dilbert, writes one of the very best blogs I have ever read. A persistent theme of his is the power of persuasion. I have to agree. Here's a reading list. Here is a good, recent example of how he looks at a seemingly impossible situation, and wondrously comes up with a plausible way around the problem using only persuasion. Magic, pure magic. Fortunately for all of us, Scott enjoys sharing his insights, and has copious videos explaining exactly how to do it.
Ever been in a job interview where you knew you could do the job, but the interviewers were trying to disqualify you? If you got the job anyway, you used persuasion. The job interview was actually a test of character, not knowledge.
I blew the interview for the job I have held for the last seven years. One of the interviewers, now one of my best friends, did his absolute, engineer best to make me look bad. I still rib him about today. Knowing I had failed miserably, but desperately needing the job, I looked at the hiring manager, straight in the eye, and told him exactly what he needed to hear from me:
"I can learn, and I can take it."
Eight little words saved my butt. Think hard about that.
Where did I get that from? Lord knows. It just came out of me, like Revelation. It was very persuasive. Years later, I learned from the grapevine that it was exactly those eight words that changed me from a failed candidate to the one that got (and kept) the job.
Learn persuasion. Start with Scott Adam's blog. Drink deeply, and practice until you totally internalize it and use it all the time. You will change yourself drastically, for the better. You will get the job. You will get the girl (guy). You will close the deal.
Among other things, you will begin to recognize other master persuaders, and will take them seriously. You will start winning, instead of always losing. You will become more powerful and effective, because you will begin to see life's everyday challenges not as problems, but as opportunities to totally turn things around, as I did years ago, using the exact right words, the exact right tone, the exact right timing. You will see situations you used to feel were problems as persuasion practice opportunities. That's exactly what they are. Onward!
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