Want to Influence? Don’t Deny Human Nature
By: Bob Burg
Not to be confused with a lack of vision, it’s simply understanding that in order to manifest that vision we must acknowledge current truths.
Want to design a device that flies despite physical universal laws such as…gravity? Then, first understand and accept the laws of physics and how they operate. Only then can you work within those laws in order to create its opposite effect.
The same is true when dealing with those often-difficult beings known as…humans.
In other words, the laws of human nature are just as true as the physical laws of nature.
Do you ever hear yourself thinking:
“He doesn’t care about the facts” … “She’s only looks at the price, not the quality” … “His ego is so big” … “She argues even when she knows she’s wrong.”
Or even, “All he cares about is himself!”
The above are some of the effects of Human Nature. Different for different people, they deal with decision-making, emotion, ego, etc.
There are also some immutable Laws of Human Nature that apply to everyone. What I believe is the biggie of them all was eloquently summed up by Dale Carnegie in his classic, How to Win Friends and Influence People:
“Ultimately, people do things for their reasons; not our reasons.”
Even if those reasons don’t make sense to us! As we’ve discussed in previous posts, people will do what they believe will make them happy, as they understand happiness and within the available options they believe they have.
And that is the overriding Law of Human Nature that only after one understands and accepts can they ever be an effective influencer.
When you embrace that law and work within it in such a way that you help the other person achieve their reason, you’ll find yourself to be one of the most powerful and influential people you know.
Great influencers don’t waste their time wishing people were different or that human nature wasn’t what it is, but rather work within the laws of human nature to benefit everyone involved.
This article was originally published by Bob Burg
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