Dear Reader,
Let this mail find you amongst team &
family members who value your thoughts and experience contribution from you in
their lives.
A friend Rajeev Kapoor sent us this
book abstract:
“Real Influence: Persuade without Push
& Gain without giving in” a book by
psychiatrist Mark Goulston (a consultant, columnist, coach & FBI hostage
negotiator) & Executive coach John Ullment (lectures on leadership in UCLA,
worked in intelligence for US Joint chiefs of staff). The abstract inspired me
to buy the book. With many real life case studies & interviews with some of
the great influencers, the book talks about how to achieve Great results,
Great reputation & Great relationships.
Foreword: “In today’s world, your personal & professional survival depend
on building “lifeline” relationships. Going it alone doesn’t work. You need to
create a dream team of people who will commit to you goals and support you at
every step.
This isn’t something you can
achieve by manipulating people. In fact, in an age of social networking, the
negative influence generated by insincere tactics and trickery can destroy your
relationships and reputation in a heartbeat.
Real influence doesn’t work
that way. It grows over time, and it pulls more and more people into your
orbit. That’s because real influence isn’t just about getting what you want.
It’s about making sure the people who matter to you get what they want.
When you practice real influence,
it doesn’t matter if you start without money, power or connections. The people
Mark & John talk about in the book often began with little in the bank. One
or two had just arrived in the country, knowing absolutely no one. Yet in just
a few years, they became “power influencers”.
I found the following story in the book
very interesting: how a fresher sparked a genuine connection and created a job for herself by thinking of the
prospective employer instead of her own self
Giselle Chapman wanted to work
as a pharmaceutical sales rep, but she got turned down at every interview.
Giselle asked why she wasn’t
getting the job. Each time, she got the same answer: The managers wanted people
with at least two years of experience in the pharmaceutical industry.
So she asked a follow-up
question: Why is two years of experience important?
Her interviewers answered:
“Because experienced pharmaceutical reps have a much better chance of getting
in to see physicians. Those are our key customers. It takes time to understand
the environment in medical offices, know how to navigate conversations and
build relationships with influencers, and ultimately get in to see the
doctors.”
Giselle said, “Thank you.”
A couple of days later, she went
to a medical building and took the elevator to the top floor. She started there
and worked her way down, going into each office on each floor and asking, “May
I please speak with the person who normally sees pharmaceutical sales reps?” In
many cases they said yes, and in several of those cases the person was a
physician. To those doctors she said, “I’m doing interviews to find out what’s
going well and what should be different, to help improve the service you get.”
Toward the end of her next job
interview, Giselle asked, “Is there any reason I wouldn’t be the candidate of
choice?” Once again, the hiring manager said that she lacked experience.
Giselle asked, “If you knew
that I could get in to see physicians, are you confident enough in your
training program that I could do well in this industry?”
The hiring manager said
“absolutely”—they had one of the best training programs in the industry.
Giselle said, “Last week I saw
ten of your customers. Would you like to hear what I learned?”
“What?!”
Giselle said, “I met with
physicians from ten different medical groups last week. I gathered data on what
they need that they’re not getting from their pharmaceutical companies. Would
that be of interest to you?”
The hiring manager said, “You
have no company, no business card, and you got in to see physicians? If you did
that, don’t move. I can get you hired before you go to a competitor for your
next interview.”
Giselle Chapman was hired by
Bristol-Myers Squibb, one of the leading pharmaceutical companies at that time.
She became their number one sales representative, and went on to form her own
consulting company.
A longer excerpt (5MB file) published by author is also available. You
can also click on the book image & click on “Look inside” to read first few
pages of the book.
May this story and the book assist you
in creating real influence in your community and contributing to everyone you
come across in life.
Lots of smiles!
