With the seemingly ever-growing cacophony of viewpoints and voices, how can you build trust and lead positive change? At the macro level, how can governments persuade populations of millions to adapt their behaviour? At the micro, how can you corral the commitment of teammates to a particular cause?
This Hot Topic will give you practical tips on how to develop your ability to persuade and will explore the fundamental psychological principles that cause people to change and say “yes” in a variety of contexts.
All you need is “yes!”
Persuasion has been associated with images of unethical manipulation, deception, or brainwashing over the years. However, understanding these shortcuts and employing them in an ethical manner can promote desirable outcomes and increase the chances that someone will agree to your requests and say “yes”. In our fast-paced and information-overloaded world, with the dramatic adjustments that Covid-19 has brought to our everyday lives, never has it been more important to apply persuasive skills to the new challenges and environments we face.
Researchers have been studying the factors that influence us to say “yes” to the requests of others for over 60 years. Fundamentally, much of the research on persuasion is based on the principle of reciprocity. When you do something for someone with consideration and personalisation, they will be more inclined to say “yes” and will be more easily persuaded. While saying “no” shuts down collaboration and innovation, “yes” can connect us to others, and open up possibilities of trust, innovation and creativity.
Therefore, persuasion is not about forcing people to do something against their will. It’s rather about opening up doors and communicating in a way that can effectively influence others, increasing the chances that someone will say “yes” even if your new post-Covid platform for influence is Zoom!
Four Secrets from the Science of Persuasion
How are people persuaded, and how can you learn how to positively influence others and get your message across, whether online or face-to-face? Persuasion science identifies four key principles of persuasion that provide small, practical and often costless changes that can lead to big differences in the way you communicate with others and find positive solutions in an ethical way, especially in challenging times.
1) Authority: People follow the lead of credible, knowledgeable leaders. When motivating your team and leading through change, make sure you signal to them what makes you a credible and expert authority. This can positively influence how your employees perceive you, making you an inspirational leader.
2) Consistency: People like if you are consistent with what you have previously said or done. For example, when seeking to get your employees or customers into the online digital world, start by creating small initial opportunities to use online tools and services; then, create an incremental and consistent change to digitalise your products. People will be more likely to accept them.
3) Liking: Research tells us that we tend to like people who are similar to us and cooperate with us towards mutual goals. As more and more of our interactions are taking place online, we can employ these factors effectively when working remotely, leading a digital team, or in online negotiations. To harness the principle of liking, look for areas of similarity that you share with others before you get down to business.
4) Consensus: When uncertain, people tend to look to the actions and behaviours of others to make up their own mind. So, if you have to encourage your employees to work from home for the first time, you can point out that many similar others are already working remotely, and it can be done effectively.
Action Point
Think of a time when you had to motivate your team, or encourage them to take action: how could you have used the principles of persuasion above to effectively lead change?