Likeonomics: The unexpected truth behind earning trust as author Rohit Bhargava puts …
Enjoy this “Cliff’s Notes” version of a few notable key points in this great read:
Mind Your Timing – The difference between success and failure often comes down to timing. Pay more attention to what’s going on around you than to the idea you’re trying to formulate. Successful PR people often peg their pitches to current events. When you put something into a broader cultural context and tap into how people feel at the moment they’re more likely to respond.
Share Your Secrets – Oprah capitalized on this concept early in her nationally syndicated show success by sharing in one of her first few shows that she had been sexually abused as a child. To her viewers, it made her a real person rather than a TV figure and people related to her instantly. Through the course of her hugely successful career she has continued to let the world into her life, a connection her audience all over the world has made with her, often called the “Oprah Effect” where anything she featured or supported became an overnight best seller or huge success.
Simplify – Bhargava touts one study where a professor had his students read classmates’ essays and grade them on how smart they thought the person who wrote it was. He found that the students who used larger words were given lower grades. In a similar vein, many studies on conversation show that the more time you spend listening, the more likely the person you’re talking to will report that it was a great conversation.
Own a Point of View – The key to making yourself relevant to a situation is to have your own opinion, rather than just agreeing with everyone else. In movies like The Secret of My Success and Jerry Maguire, the heroes are the ones who pave their own path. We underestimate the value of doing that, especially in this economy, but people respect people who have self-confidence.
Find your Humility – When Jim Collins, who wrote Good to Great, a best-selling business book, analyzed successful leaders, he discovered that humility was one of the core elements of their achievement. They
put their company first, rather than chasing their own glory. Being a humble has a big impact on how much people will interact with and appreciate you.
