Undermining Truth for Gain, Two Crucial First Steps
Posted on05 Jun 2017
Tagsemotional triggers, confidence, facts, Influence, personification, security, storytelling, truth, uncertainty, leadership dark side, manipulation, Undermining Truth (Series)
Comments0
Undermining truth is easy. What makes it easy is that people like to think truth is rock solid. Facts Are Facts Until... Read More
Power of Popularity in Decisions
Posted on26 Aug 2013
Tagscognitive dissonance, decisions, emotions, facts, Influence, leadership, marketing, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, positioning, Princeton University, problem solving, The Economist, University of Chicago, University of Toronto, rational herding, Kory Kroft, Fabian Lange, Matthew Notowidigdo, McGill University, Matthew Salganik, Duncan Watts, Microsoft Research, Abhijit Banerjee, hiring
Comments1
Popularity influences our decisions to the point that we often subjugate our desires to what is popular. It’s a form of peer... Read More
Confidence as a Psychological Weapon of Leadership
Posted on02 May 2013
Tagslogic, certainty, confidence, facts, honesty, Influence, interpretation, leadership, message, power, psychology, subconscious, trust, uncertainty, martyrs
Comments0
Confidence frequently indicates incompetence. However, leadership often requires confidence. Since people often fear uncertainty, they naturally gravitate to people who provide certainty,... Read More
Stories as Inhibitors of Change, Innovation
Posted on11 Mar 2013
Tagsadaptability, change, change management, dissent, facts, history, ideas, Influence, innovation, Northwestern University, opinions, question, rationale, storytelling, The New Yorker, thinking process, think outside the box, George Packer, Dan McAdams
Comments0
Stories galvanize people, helping them to learn, to coalesce around ideas. If we look at this galvanization as solidification, we can also... Read More
Personality is our Politics
Posted on28 Feb 2013
Tagsinnate, Brown University, Pennsylvania State University, Rose McDermott, Peter Hatemi, University of Virginia, New York University, John Jost, University of Texas, The Economist, Real-time personality assessment, Personality, people, leadership, Influence, ideas, facts
Comments0
People often believe that political views are a battle of ideas. In reality, they are more a battle of personality types. People... Read More
Lying About Honesty
We like to believe we’re honest. However, who we are is often quite different from who we think we are; thus, we... Read More
Toxic Soil Analogy: Good Ideas Planted on Bad Relationships
Posted on23 Apr 2012
Tagsanalogy, cognitive bias, conflict, conflict management, organizational culture, diversity, emotions, employees, facts, heartfelt, ideas, leadership, management, minds, perception, rationale, relationships, strategy, Toxic Soil Analogy, vision
Comments7
Imagine soil so toxic that nothing will grow. No matter how good our seeds, our farming techniques and the weather are; nothing... Read More
Relationship Building Technique #7: Summarization
Posted on16 Apr 2012
Tagsconfidence, facts, ideas, information, instructions, listen, logic, opinions, quality, relationship building techniques, Relationship Building Techniques Series, relationships, summarize, understanding
Comments2
We often don’t learn the value of listening techniques in building relationships. Consequently, people might not realize we are listening; this needs... Read More
Leadership’s Dark Side
Posted on25 Jul 2011
TagsJohn Seabrook, competence, confidence, facts, goal setting, Iain Couzin, Jens Krause, leadership, Leeds University, Princeton University, The New Yorker
Comments7
If you research leadership, you’ll find virtually all leadership models promoting the concept as something approaching divinity. What we don’t address is... Read More
People Believe Their Perceptions Over Facts
Posted on28 Apr 2011
TagsCalifornia State University, The Economist, statistics, Sacramento, perception, people, logic, leadership, Kimberly Nalder, H.L. Mencken, facts, education, change, behavior
Comments9
We often hear, “People will believe what they want to believe,” the Henry Louis Mencken quote. We also find that people will... Read More
