The 5 Paths to Persuasion: The Art of Selling Your Message by Robert B. Miller & Gary A. Williams & Alden M. Hayashi

Author:Robert B. Miller & Gary A. Williams & Alden M. Hayashi
Language: eng
Format: mobi
ISBN: 9780446506045
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
Published: 2007-07-30T14:00:00+00:00

DEFT PEOPLE HANDLERS

A willingness to delegate is but one of many excellent people skills of Followers. In general, Followers are able to connect personally with their staff and colleagues, often inspiring great loyalty from them. They are diplomatic, and they can be shrewd in office politics. When there’s a change in regimes, Followers usually survive. They bide their time, always being careful not to step on important toes. And they slowly but surely climb the corporate ladder, usually outlasting other talented execs who self-destruct.

Excellent people skills were among the reasons Carly Fiorina rose so high at AT&T. She was, for example, always there to reward employees who had closed big deals, showering them with flowers, balloons, and other gifts. “She won people over very quickly,” remembers Bill Marx, then an executive vice president at AT&T.14 “There were people who resented her success, but she charmed the resentment right out of them,” says another person, recalling Fiorina’s tenure there.15

Followers tend to be excellent listeners. Peter Coors, chairman of Adolph Coors Co., likes to visit distributors and bars to chat people up, and in the process he learns about his family business from customers and people on the front lines. When he’s traveling, he visits local drinking establishments and buys rounds for the house. He once went into a gay bar in Boise and introduced himself, even though his company had long been at odds with gay activists. At the bar, Coors heard from two customers who criticized his firm’s policy of using lie-detector tests to screen job applicants. And the bartender told him that Coors draft sometimes caused problems with his taps because the beer was packed at such high pressures. Peter Coors was genuinely interested in learning from such encounters. He would repeat the criticisms to make sure he had heard them right, and then he’d jot down the information on a cocktail napkin to make sure he wouldn’t forget anything.16

Even when they’re in the corner office, Followers are humble enough to know that they don’t have all the answers. Bob Nardelli, CEO of the Home Depot, often talks with Ken Langone, a board member, first thing in the morning. Roger Penske, another board member, whom Nardelli recruited from GE’s board, has been impressed with Nardelli’s eagerness to hear what others have to say. “Between meetings,” says Penske, “he calls and asks for advice. Typically, you don’t see that.”17 And whenever Nardelli is thinking of firing someone, he usually double-checks his decision with other execs: “I say, ‘Look, here’s my view. Am I seeing this right?’”18

Followers don’t ask questions just to be polite or to stroke someone’s ego. They truly want good advice, even when it runs counter to their views. When that happens, Followers will fully consider the information, and if it’s persuasive, they will change their course of action, even when it’s painful to do so. After HP had spent a half billion dollars to acquire Bluestone Software, a company that sells “middleware”—software that enables different types of

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