Welcome to another Manipulation Monday — an irregularly-published You Can Be A Thought Leader series on the one-on-one tactics of mass persuasion.
Former FBI Agent Jack Schafer once wrote a book about the techniques FBI agents use to quickly befriend people and get them to open up to the agent. For FBI agents, building relationships quickly with strangers is critical as they are trying to gain trust and get information from them.
Schafer wrote that if you want people to be drawn to you, appreciate you, and miss you when you’re away, simply make them feel better about themselves and superior to others every time they are with you.
Are you doing this as a Thought Leader? Remember, your job is not just to look smart in front of your followers, but to make your followers feel smarter than those around them.
Thought Leaders are often so focused on their own ideas and beliefs that they forget to make their followers feel smart. This is a major mistake.
Do you have any idea how many would-be followers mess this up?
Feeling smart and valued can be a powerful motivator for people to stay engaged with an idea or movement. When Thought Leaders fail to recognize the importance of making their followers feel intelligent and superior to those outside the group, it can have disastrous consequences for the Thought Leader’s business.
If your competition doesn’t know this, your life is now so much easier.
Another way to make your life easier — much easier — is to subscribe to my You Can Be A Thought Leader daily emails.
Regular readers report regrowth of hair lost to male pattern baldness, shrinking waistlines, expanding bank accounts, clearer skin, and whiter teeth. And that’s usually just the first week.*
*nothing in that paragraph is true.