Chapter Three: How to Merit and Maintain Other’s Trust (Part 2) [ARR]

Annie's Reading Room

Continuing on from last week, here are 5 more ways to Merit and Maintain Other’s Trust in addition to these first five:

·         Avoid Arguments

·         Never Say, “You’re Wrong”

·         Admit Faults Quickly and Emphatically

·         Begin in a Friendly Way

·         Access Affinity

Surrender the Credit. Careful though – this can’t be conducted with false humility. “The principle suggested here is born not of attention-seeking activity but rather of a supreme confidence that you are a far better person when those around you know that they play an important role not only in a collaborative success but also in your personal success. Success isn’t about attention and accolades. It’s about partnership and progress.”

Engage with Empathy. “Empathy is not a networking tactic to be learned and leveraged; it is a link to immediate affluence in human relations.”

Appeal to Noble Motives. “Such an approach does more than just appeal to noble motives in another…it conveys the message, “You are capable of doing the right, honorable, true, thing.”  These are powerful words that move people to action.”

Share Your Journey. “More and more common - and commonly effective at building influential relationships - is the authentic intersection of personal and professional life...When your journey is “our” journey, we are both compelled to see where it goes.” This could be exemplified by bloggers who pepper their blog posts with personal stories or anecdotes outside of their traditional posts. This not only allows the reader to get to know the blogger, but also become more invested in their lives.

Throw Down a Challenge. At Magic Johnson’s retirement ceremony, he said, “I want to thank Larry Bird personally for bringing out the best in Magic Johnson because, without you, I could have never risen to the top.” And even if you don’t play in the NBA, “Look around your sphere of influence for an area of affinity that can generate a competition that can mean something more than reaching the finish line - something that can mean lasting friendships and corporate influence for a positive change.”

Next week we will review how to lead change while minimizing resistance, the final post for How to Win Friends and Influence People.   

*Next book on the reading list is Getting to Yes by Roger Fisher and William Ury!*