How can I move you to act?

In virtually every situation, my attention goes to the outcome. Whether I am in a long meeting at work, helping a colleague get his work done, or talking a friend off a ledge, I measure my success by my ability to persuade the other person to do something they didn’t necessarily intend to do. I may do this by the force of my arguments, charm, or my ability to outwit them, or perhaps by some combination of all of these, but, regardless of my method, what really matters to me is moving the other person to action.

Why? Partly because I see where things will lead if the other person doesn’t act, and partly because I am instinctively aware of momentum and so become frustrated when I bump into someone who slows my momentum down.

It’s fun for me to influence people’s behavior through the power of  personality and argument.  I find it challenging and mysterious and thrilling, and, in the end, of course, it makes good things happen.