If an individual or an organization ever want to lead a group of people or the industry, they have to be good at persuading people in what they believe in. It could be an idea, a product, a plan, a belief or anything that’s worth investing resources in.
For instance, Apple Inc. leads the mobile phone market because it is able to persuade people that their Iphone is different and better than other phones, Winston Churchill was able to “win the war” only after he could persuade Franklin D. Roosevelt, Joseph Stalin and millions of other individuals, on the importance of war and insisting on what’s at stake for everyone. Likewise, an organization can only thrive if it is able to persuade its employees and customers on the mission, the vision and the values it believes in.
According to Merriam-Webster, the word “Persuade” basically means, to move by argument, entreaty, or expostulation to a belief, position, or course of action and “Persuasion” means, the act or process or an instance of persuading. In simple terms I would say, Persuasion is an act of making someone agree and sign up for what you believe in, by sharing new facts, new views, new experiences.
To be better at persuading people in whatever you believe in, you cannot and should not look at it as relentless effort to make anyone agree to your point without enough or new facts when met with an objection. Because people do not like being forced against their will and even if they do, they do it out of empathy or fear and in both case, you can loose their support any moment as they do not believe what you believe in, with the information you have shared with them.
“To be persuasive we must be believable; to be believable we must be creditable; to be credible we must be truthful.” Edward R. Murrow
To make your argument or belief well supported and agreeable, in other words to be Persuasive, you must do 3 things right,
- Be Truthful
- Listen
- Be Patient
Being Truthful simply means, staying true to yourself and the people you are pitching your ideas to. If you know that your idea has a flaw, has a limitation or even you have not considered the negative impacts of it, be honest about it and let all the stakeholders know about the flaw. By doing this, you are not only open about not knowing everything but also, you are open for feedback and suggestions. Which will not only build trust but also will make your idea or belief stronger than before.
“There’s magic, positive magic, in such phrases as: “I may be wrong. I frequently am. Let’s examine the facts.” Dale Carnegie, How to Win Friends and Influence People
Next, Listen. Most of the times, when someone shares an idea, people will have lots of questions. They would want to understand the complete idea and the context of it and that would mean, as a leader you have to be prepared to listen and listen intently. Listen to understand their questions, listen to understand their views, listen to know what experiences they’ve had to something similar to it, listen to understand their expectations on the outcome of the idea or the belief. Sometimes just by listening, you will get answers to some of your own questions. By listening to someone’s experience, you might rethink on what you believe in and that might change the entire equation for good.
“Most people do not listen with the intent to understand; they listen with the intent to reply.” Stephen R. Covey, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People
Lastly, Patience. Not necessarily everyone will be as excited as you in your Idea or belief, and that means you need lot of patience while your idea is heard, understood, questioned and then agreed upon. Almost always this is a lengthy and a tiring process and for you to be able to stay as passionate as you were at the beginning, your patience will play an important role. It is your patience that will keep you going until your belief is widely accepted.
“He that can have patience can have what he will.” Benjamin Franklin
Being Truthful, Being a Good Listener and Being Patient will allow you to take that one more shot in persuading people in what you believe in every time you hit a roadblock. It will allow you to understand what’s missing in your argument, so you could add that missing piece to the puzzle. Because the objective of persuading people should be to bring everyone on the same page with their agreement, their peace of mind and more importantly, to be able to proudly say you did it the right way.
To summarise, though the ability to persuade is an important skill for any role, it is of utmost importance in case of Leadership. Without it, an individual or an organization will never be able to start their journey of leading a group of people or revolutionise the industry. Persuading for personal gains over other’s interest would leave us with angst and confusion, but if done for right reasons and the right way, it would make the world a better place. Because it is the ideas, the beliefs that change the world.
Be Great!
Praveen's Blog 