Aug 13 2017 : The Times of India (Mumbai)

Six qualities that make up the material for leadership

A quick lesson on six essential ingredients that are required to ascend the ladder and lead with conviction

The ability to persuade others to make a decision or to follow your direction is an essential skill to becoming a successful leader. When it comes to the twin subjects of influence and persuasion, Dr Robert Cialdini and his best-selling classic Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion , is an authoritative source.

1 RECIPROCITY

The first principle, reciprocity, is simply the obligation to repay.Famous archaeologist Richard Leakey ascribes the essence of what makes us human to the reciprocity system, points out Cialdini in his book.Cialdini noted that people give back to you the kind of treatment that they’ve received from you. If you do something first, by giving them an item of value, a piece of information, or a positive attitude, it will all come back to you. The key is to go first.

2 CONSISTENCY AND COMMITMENT

Modern research has long identified the power of the consistency principle to direct human action. It is often pointed out that people tend to act in favour of to hers who are commit ted to the same values as they have and show consistency in behavior.

3 SOCIAL PROOF

Watch a sitcom and you will hear `canned laugh’ at all the jokes even before you laugh. Go to a smart phone website and you will find the number of units sold. These are all evidence of how the concept of social proof is used to persuade us.

Usually, when a lot of people are doing something, it seems the right thing to do. Cialdini says, “People will be likely to say yes to your request, if you give them evidence that people just like them have been saying yes to it, too.“

4 LIKING

We prefer to say yes to the requests of some one we k now and like. Cialdini says, “A simple way to make things happen in your direction is to uncover genuine similarities or parallels that exist between you and the person you want to influence, and then raise them to the surface. That increases rapport.“

5 AUTHORITY

When we hear the term authority, we tend to associate power with it.

However, in Cialdini’s words: “It is not about being in authority and using that lever to move people in your direction, rather about being an authority on something… If you want to persuade someone to invest in your startup, then being the authority in the field of business will increase the chances of your request being granted by 10 times.“

6 SCARCITY

Cialdini writes, opportunities seem more valuable to us when their availability is limited. In fact, people seem to be more motivated by the thought of losing something than by the thought of gaining something of equal value. This phenomenon is called loss aversion.

In the interview, Cialdini says, “That’s an important reminder that we need to differentiate what we have to offer, [from what is being offered by] our rivals or competitors.“