Leadership Secrets for Influencing Others – The Brain Science of Persuasion

Are you working in an organization which values leaders capable of influencing others? Do the leaders in your organization focus more on logic and reason than emotion when attempting to persuade others?

 

One of the most powerful questions one can ask oneself is “Am I relying on logic and reason more than emotion when influencing people?” Exceptional leaders persuade others by appealing to emotion.

 

Are you good at influencing people at work? Do you focus on what would persuade other people rather than yourself? Are you passionate about focusing on influencing people to achieve significant goals at work that emotionally engage your people?

 

Two Major Persuasion Mistakes

 

People make two major mistakes when trying to persuade others:

1.    Using the argument that would work best on themselves

2.    Overestimating the power of logic and rationality

The scientific study of persuasion has continued for more than half a century, yet executives across all fields make presentations based on faulty assumptions.

 

Instead of researching what makes people buy or make decisions, they ask themselves, “What would motivate me to participate in this program or buy this product?”

 

When learning economics, finance and management, executives refer to outside experts to achieve a level of competence. But when it comes to persuasion skills, most believe they already possess an intuitive understanding of psychological principles, simply by virtue of living life and interacting with others. Consequently, they’re less likely to consult psychological research on how people make decisions.

This overconfidence leads many executives, managers and salespeople to miss opportunities for improving their presentations and efforts to influence others.

 

The fact is, persuasion can be defined, learned and successfully incorporated into anyone’s communication abilities. It doesn’t matter if you work in sales, marketing or another field directly related to persuasion. Every leader or manager depends on getting things done through others.

Working with a seasoned executive coach trained in emotional intelligence and incorporating leadership assessments such as the Bar-On EQ-i and CPI 260 can help you become a leader who translates strategy into execution. You can become a leader who models emotional intelligence, and who inspires people to become happily engaged with the strategy and vision of the company.