The Necessary Art of Persuasion

A summary of the full-length HBR article by Jay A. Conger, highlighting key ideas.

THE IDEA IN BRIEF

When you’re operating outside clear reporting lines, your colleagues may not immediately see why they should collaborate with you. That’s when your powers of persuasion come into play. It’s not manipulation. Effective persuasion is a learning and negotiating process for leading your colleagues to a shared solution to a problem.

THE IDEA IN PRACTICE

The process of persuasion has four steps:

  1. Establish credibility. Your credibility grows out of two sources: expertise and relationships. If you have a history of well-informed, sound judgment, your colleagues will trust your expertise. If you’ve demonstrated that you can work in the best interest of others, your peers will have confidence in your relationships.

    If you’re weak on the expertise side, bolster your position by:

    • Learning more through formal and informal education—for example, conversations with in-house experts
    • Hiring recognized outside experts
    • Launching pilot projects

      Example: Two developers at Microsoft envisioned a controversial new software product, but both were technology novices. By working closely with technical experts and market testing a prototype, they persuaded management that the new product was ideally suited to the average computer user. It sold half a million units.

      To fill in the relationship gap, try:

    • Meeting one-on-one with key people
    • Involving like-minded coworkers who have good support with your audience
  2. Frame goals on common ground. Tangibly describe the benefits of your position. The fastest way to get a child to the grocery store is to point out the lollipops by the cash register. That’s not deception—it’s persuasion. When no shared advantages are apparent, adjust your position.

    Example: An ad agency executive persuaded skeptical fast-food franchisees to support headquarters’ new price discounts. She cited reliable research showing how the pricing scheme improved franchisees’ profits. They supported the new plan unanimously.

  3. Vividly reinforce your position. Ordinary evidence won’t do. Make numerical data more compelling with examples, stories, and metaphors that have an emotional impact.

    Example: The founder of Mary Kay Cosmetics made a speech comparing salespeople’s weekly meetings to gatherings among Christians resisting Roman rule. This drove home the importance of a mutually supportive sales force and imbued the work with a sense of heroic mission.

  4. Connect emotionally. Adjust your own emotional tone to match your audience’s ability to receive your message. Learn how your colleagues have interpreted past events in the organization and sense how they will probably interpret your proposal. Test key individuals’ possible reactions.

    Example: A Chrysler team leader raised the morale of employees disheartened by foreign competition when he persuaded senior management to bring a new car design in-house. He showed both groups slides of his hometown, devastated by foreign mining competition. Dramatic images of his boarded-up high school and the town’s crumbling ironworks shone a sobering light on the aftereffects of outsourcing. His patriotic and emotional appeal resonated with his audiences.

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Jay A. Conger is a professor of organizational behavior at the University of Southern California’s Marshall School of Business in Los Angeles, where he directs the Leadership Institute. He is the author of Winning ’Em Over: A New Model for Managing in the Age of Persuasion (Simon & Schuster, 2001).

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