Nine Principles You Should Use to Incr

By Dr. Amanda Nimon-Peters

principles four to six are perception-related, and principles seven to nine are behaviorrelated

INFLUENCE AND PERSUASION skills are highly desirable for all businesspeople, and especially for entrepreneurs, whose livelihoods depend on the outcome of certain momentous decisions. And the good news here is that influencing skills can be learned -and improved- with the right methodology.

If you have ever considered improving your powers of persuasion, you may have come across Robert Cialdini's The Psychology of Persuasion, or Dale Carnegie's How to Win Friends and Influence People. While these books are great, they were also both written in the in the 20th century- I don't have to tell you that the world of work has changed enormously in the past few years, let alone since 1984.

Today's business professionals have been missing a model for influence at work specifically designed for the 21st century. As a business school professor, I sought to fix that problem. 18 months ago, I examined the last four decades of behavioral science research on the factors that influence people's decisions and actions. As a former entrepreneur and corporate executive in the Middle East, it was my goal to include research from Asia, Africa, and the Middle East, as well as studies from Europe and the US.

The result is my book, Working With Influence: Nine Principles Of Persuasion To Accelerate Your Career. It is based on more than 200 peer-reviewed journal articles revealing nine universal principles for increasing your influence at work. These nine principles are organized into three sets of three to ensure they are easy to learn and remember: principles one to three are people-related,

PRINCIPLE ONE: STATUS In all cultures, people who have higher status are given preferential treatment. The key to gaining influence via principle one is to understand that status rankings are often done subconsciously, so think carefully about how you present yourself. The key is to avoid mentioning factors that reduce your status, like a lack of experience in one specific area, and instead make others aware of any experience, qualifications, or past successes you have, such as previous work experience at a big-name company. Be careful that the words you use are not simply the first ones that come out of your mouth.

PRINCIPLE TWO: SOCIAL IMITATION Our choices are heavily influenced by those of people around us or like us. Numerous studies have shown that when people receive information about what others have done in the same situation, they modify their own preferences in the same direction. The effect is stronger the more the target audience identifies with the referent group. To influence a decision in favor of the direction you propose, present the option you want people to choose as the standard or normative choice for the decision-maker's social grouping.

PRINCIPLE THREE: AFFILIATION Our decisions about people are influenced by whether or not we feel a person is like us or part of our in-group. Research data shows that decision-makers can feel affiliation towards someone who graduated from the same school, who has friends or colleagues in common, or even someone who has the same first name. Creating a sense of affiliation between yourself and other people can help to tip decisions in your favor during an interview or a client meeting, or when you are seeking help and resources.