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'Increase Your Power by Reducing It'

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stop. Then a well known ad man passes by wait a second! Here I am, on this beautful Which do you like the best?” So they can
and sees the sign and says, “I can add four spring day and I’m seeing all the glorious compare them more easily. We don’t use this
words to that sign and you’ll be able to raise fowers and the trees blooming and the sun contrast principle enough. In your persuasive
a lot more money.” And the four words he shining and people strolling through the eforts, what you want to do is build in that
adds are: “It is springtme and…” So having park, and this person can’t see that.” “compared to what?” queston.
a sign that says, “I am blind,” may not be And so one of the things you want to do This connects to another important
enough. People are empathetc to that in in persuasion – again building on Cialdini’s point in Clarity. We tend to always want to
many cases, but it doesn’t go far enough in work – is you want to emphasize that contrast give people a lot of choices, but when you
persuading them because it doesn’t trigger principle. You want to trigger the queston do, you’re sometmes less persuasive, partly
the “compared to what?” queston. But if “Compared to what?” Say you’re in a clothing because the “Compared to what?” queston
you change it to: “It is springtme and I am store and the sales rep asks, “Do you like goes haywire. People get overwhelmed. So
blind” it triggers the “compared to what?” this te?” and you might say, “Yeah, I like there’s some evidence showing that, if you
ALASKA we have 800 colors, all these diferent sizes.”
mechanism. It makes the “I am blind” that.” But that’s not as persuasive as saying, restrict people’s choices, you can become
contrast with your own experience. “Wow, “Let me show you two tes or three tes. more persuasive, even though our instncts
always are to say, “Oh, whatever you want,

ESM: OK, fnal queston. Of all the things
GIFT OF THE YEAR!
you talked about, what is the most
important element to work on if you’re
hoping to improve your ability to persuade
and infuence?
Pink: About 40 years ago, there was a
management writer named Robert Greenleaf
who wrote about a concept he called “servant
leadership.” It’s a phrase many of us have
heard of. What he said is that leaders must
turn the pyramid upside down, essentally. He
said leaders aren’t at the top of the pyramid,
they’re at the botom—that leaders serve
frst and lead next, that serving others gives
them the moral legitmacy to lead. Servant
leadership is a quieter form of power. If you
look at the people who are the most efectve
leaders, many of them see themselves as
servants frst, and that serving others gives
them the legitmacy to lead.
I think where we are in selling and
persuading is very similar. What you should
do is serve frst and then sell next—the act of
service gives you the legitmacy to sell. And
when I say service, I don't mean customer
service necessarily. When you put yourself in
a positon to persuade somebody, to infuence
somebody, get out of your own head and
72.9 lb King Salmon think about what you can do to serve their
interests. If they consent to what you're
doing, if they consent to what you're asking
Catch an Incentive Worth Talking About them to do, how does that make their life
beter and how does that make the world
beter? If you focus on those two questons,
Give them a reward they’ll brag about long after they return; then I think you actually don't even need to
an all-inclusive 2 or 3-night trip to SE Alaska. sell it at some level. You serve frst and then
sell, persuade, infuence next. Putng yourself
Contact Guest Services to learn more. in the positon of others, saying, "What
can I do to make their life beter?" actually
800.544.5125 makes you among the most persuasive and
convincing people around.
Alan Schweyer is the President of TMGov.
GuestServices@WaterfallResort.com org, as well as a Principal at the Center
www.WaterfallResort.com/esm Legendary Sport Fishing for Human Capital Innovaton (CHCI) and
Curriculum Director for the Enterprise
Engagement Alliance. ESM
20 engagement strategies Vol.17 Issue 4