LeadershipHQ Magazine June 2015 2nd Edition | Page 29

Influence & Persuasion
A large chunk of activity in business involves humans influencing – or
at least attempting to influence – others, to do something that will
advantage the influencer and, in the best of circumstances, themselves.
Robert Cialdini’s Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion with more than 2 million copies sold since its publication in 1984
is now something of a modern-day bible on how we persuade and are persuaded. If you are in business and have not yet
read at least a summary of Dr Cialdini’s work, now would be a good time to make that investment. That goes double for
those of us with responsibilities for sales, marketing or leadership.

Cialini’s PhD research identified six “click-whirr responses”
to which we are all subject:
1. Reciprocity: If I do something for you I create a
predisposition in you to do something for me (give a
gift, then ask for a favour);
2. Commitment & consistency: Saying or writing that
we’ll do something increases the likelihood that we’ll
do it; while doing something in a small way increases
our predisposition to do it in a bigger way (“Tell us in 20
words or less why you like Aeroplane Jelly”);
3. Social Proof: People like us do this, even when “this”
might entail suicide (viz the Jones Town massacre, and
speculation around the recent Germanwings co-pilot’s
crash motives);
4. Authority: We tend to obey authority figures,
sometimes with horrendous consequences (viz the
Nazi defence: “I was just following orders!”);
5. Liking: We favour and are easily influenced by people
we like or to whom we are attracted (hence movie star
endorsements of household products);
6. Scarcity: We value things that are scarce (“Hurry! Last
one. Last days. Last chance”; if DeBeers derestricted
diamond supply they would be worth very little)

29 | © LeadershipHQ 2015

Using Persuasion
So, how might you use persuasion – preferably, ethically
– to increase your chances of more often achieving a
desired outcome?
Here’s a 6-step pr