3 (easy) office tips to enhance your influence

Managers share a cup of coffee. This simple act can enhance your influence.

Influence. In a word, it’s what the social world is really made of and a critical part of our everyday lives. What if you knew some decorative, office tips to enhance your influence without others even knowing what you’re doing? The work of psychology provides numerous examples of how you can improve your odds at influencing others. Here I provide a few tips to enhance your influence, specifically your likability.

Research has shown that people make extremely quick assessments of whether you are a “threat or a friend.” In fact, this happens BEFORE you are even consciously aware of the others’ true intent or character. This is the result of years of evolution, directly related to the “Fight or Flight” phenomenon. Before we’re even aware of what we’re confronting, we have a sense of “I’m OK”, or “I’m not OK”. Subconscious activity is faster than conscious activity.

What if there were some way to instill a particular thought in someone’s mind before you even say a word? Good news: There is!

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Throw for the Catch

Receiver making a catch

It’s fourth and goal.

Time for one play to determine the winner of the game. You drop back to pass. One receiver’s wide open. You throw a “frozen rope” spiral — right on target. You hit the receiver so hard in the chest that there’s no way they don’t make the catch.

But they don’t. And you lose. (More than the game).

You race to the “would be” receiver, now crying and laying on the ground. “What’s wrong?!” you ask, amazed that the catch wasn’t made.

“You fwew it too hawd”, your 2-year old (nearly 3) whimpers.

How would this make you feel? Good play?

So, why? WHY, do we insist on presenting, solving, doing things our way when success so clearly depends on more than just you?

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