Does Being Influential Make You Healthier & Happier?
Having influence may make you live longer! Moving yourself and others to action. From Michael Pantalon in The Science of Influence
Oct 07, 2011
Psychology Today
By Michael Pantalon Ph.D.
Oct. 5, 2011
In the movie "Pursuit of Happyness," Will Smith plays Chris Gardner, a medical equipment salesman who is way down on his luck but who has his heart set on an internship at the financial investment firm Dean Witter. He wants to turn his life around but the cards are stacked against him. He is not qualified for the internship, his resume is unimpressive and he shows up to his interview wearing a paint-splattered tank-top and jeans (After a day of painting, Chris was arrested and spent the night in jail because of unpaid parking tickets. He went to the interview right after being released). When the interviewer asks him, "What would you say if a guy walked in for an interview without a shirt on...and I hired him?" Chris immediately and confidently says, "He must have had on some really nice pants." The entire boardroom erupts with laughter and nods of approval for Chris' wit and ability to immediately change the group's mood. The internship is his!
Chris got the internship because he influenced the interviewers. He did this by using 3 very powerful influence strategies:
1) Likeability
Chris' joke made everyone laugh and in turn, like him more. Dr. Robert Cialdini, psychologist and influence expert (http://www.robertcialdini.net), has written extensively about the influential effect of being liked, and what better, quicker way to enhance likeability than to get someone to laugh.
Read more
Oct 07, 2011
Psychology Today
By Michael Pantalon Ph.D.
Oct. 5, 2011
In the movie "Pursuit of Happyness," Will Smith plays Chris Gardner, a medical equipment salesman who is way down on his luck but who has his heart set on an internship at the financial investment firm Dean Witter. He wants to turn his life around but the cards are stacked against him. He is not qualified for the internship, his resume is unimpressive and he shows up to his interview wearing a paint-splattered tank-top and jeans (After a day of painting, Chris was arrested and spent the night in jail because of unpaid parking tickets. He went to the interview right after being released). When the interviewer asks him, "What would you say if a guy walked in for an interview without a shirt on...and I hired him?" Chris immediately and confidently says, "He must have had on some really nice pants." The entire boardroom erupts with laughter and nods of approval for Chris' wit and ability to immediately change the group's mood. The internship is his!
Chris got the internship because he influenced the interviewers. He did this by using 3 very powerful influence strategies:
1) Likeability
Chris' joke made everyone laugh and in turn, like him more. Dr. Robert Cialdini, psychologist and influence expert (http://www.robertcialdini.net), has written extensively about the influential effect of being liked, and what better, quicker way to enhance likeability than to get someone to laugh.
Read more