Riveting.
That’s the only word to describe the book I couldn’t stop reading on the flight back from Chicago.
Riveting.
I was tired from spending almost a week recording my new audioprogram for Nightingale-Conant.*
I wanted to sleep.
I needed to sleep.
But I couldn’t put the book down.
All NLP people, hypnotic writing disciples, negotiators and persuasionists, sales people and marketers need to write this title down:
Influencer: The Power to Change Anything.
It’s by the same team who wrote Crucial Conversations (which I haven’t read yet): Kerry Patterson, Joseph Grenny, David Maxfield, Ron McMillan and Al Switzier.
I’m not sure how five authors write one book, but this one is well-written, packed with stories, case studies, tips and insights that are enriching my understanding of personal change and stretching my mind in entirely new directions.
Logic and verbal persuasion are out, as well as old school intervention tactics and other aggressive approaches to change.
They rarely work, anyway.
And never for the most persistent and overwhelming problems.
The authors make the powerful (and persuasive) case that if you want to change the most troublesome problems in yourself or anyone else, you need to study the change agents who have done the impossible, people like —
* Dr. Mimi Silbert, who created a way to change thieves, prostitutes, murderers and gang members into college educated citizens who work regular, respected jobs — and without therapists, staff, funding, grants, or guards.
* Miguel Sabido, a TV producer in Mexico who creates life changing soap operas that have helped millions — including one show that caused over a quarter million viewers to flood the streets looking for a booklet on how to cure illiteracy.
* Dr. Wiwat, who helped stop the spread of HIV/AIDS in Thailand by getting all the sex workers to practice safe sex.
* Garth Japhet, who helped stop wife beatings and other violence against women in South Africa.
* Muhammad Yumus, Nobel Prize winner, founder of Grameen Bank, who helps women in poverty in India with microcredit loans to put them into business – to date helping over 100 million people, and with a 98 percent success rate.
* And Albert Bandura, the modern psychologist, a genius, who invented self-efficacy (the unbending belief that you can do something), who all modern influence masters and change agents study when they want to know how to change the “impossible.”
I’m reading Influencer to learn new ways to influence myself. (There’s always something to improve.) I’m also reading it to understand how to change others for the highest good of all concerned.
This is a powerful, inspiring, important book. It’s aimed at changing groups or organizations (even countries), but the applications are personal as well as professional.
If you want to change something in yourself or another and have been hitting a wall, Influencer may be the door to freedom.
Their approach involves research, behavior study, and a multiple of methods that are weaved into a strategy where the desired change is virtually inevitable.
Creating a change strategy based on the authors’ methods will take time, but the ending result could be amazing.
See www.vitalsmarts.com for information on it and other books by the authors.
Highly recommended.
Ao Akua,
Joe
www.mrfire.com
PS – Have I mentioned I think the book is riveting?
* My previous program with Nightingale-Conant is The Power of Outrageous Marketing. My new program is called The Missing Secret and will explain the Law of Attraction in a practical way. It will be released on November 12th. Mark your calendar. 🙂
8 Comments
mmm can’t wait to get the book here 🙂 and i like your question how 5 writers can write 1 book 🙂 interesting ……
Oh yes! and i suggest everyone to read BOdy for LIfe by Bill Phillips…simply wonderful……you’ll love your body 🙂
You were a wonderful part of my day last week. Since March or April of this year, I have been allowing the Law of Attraction to change my life in beautiful and amazing ways.
Part of the change included finding a job quickly so that I could get my own apartment. That job came easily and swiftly and I was recently promoted and given a raise.
However, retail is not something I enjoy and I decided to leave it to pursue my dreams. I have the man of my dreams (through the Law of Attraction) and he is supportive of my decision to throw myself full-time into the things that make my heart sing.
The morning I decided to give notice at work, I felt a need for one more shot of encouragement before I went out the door. I went down my bloglist favorites and said, “Joe!” and clicked. I was encouraged and motivated to follow my desires.
Within an hour of starting work, a woman came in with a return. There was some conflict concerning the item’s having been worn, etc. After it was resolved, I was apologizing for the implications made by other staff. I looked down and she was holding “Zero Limits!”:shock: I told her that I plan to get it and she said, “You have to read it, it’s mesmerizing.” I told her about your blog and about your videos. We discussed the amazing gift of changing our lives into what we want them to be.
I love it when the Universe plays these little motivational games.
Hi Joe, couldn’t agree more. Riveting! I tried to give you a heads up on these guys a couple of years ago when I sent you a copy of Crucial Confrontations. Just the forward by Tom Peters for that book says it all. These guys are true thought leaders and I strongly encourage you to read their other books.
Joe–
Thanks for your kind comments about our book. We felt a tremendous trepidation and responsibility writing it. There has been so much incredible work done by the people we studied and interviewed showing how to help people break intractable habits, how to help leaders fundamentally change the culture of their organizations and how to help bold individuals influence world-scale problems for the better. We knew the book had to be written so that the rest of us could see both that much can be done, and that there are learnable ways of doing it.
The problem is we live in such a Quick Fix world where people want books with simple solutions to complex problems. They want a “secret” that will change everything. And it turns out, solving complex problem often requires deep thought, hard work, and greater skills.
Our deepest hope is that this book empowers more people of courage and tenacity to make a difference. The world needs it. We as individuals need it. Our organizations need it. I was thrilled to hear that you thought we came close to the mark.
Warmly,
Joseph
joe,
i don’t get it. what is your path? hooponopono is forgiveness. isn’t wanting to change things just re arranging memory? dont we just want to clean and function from inspiration? what more is there to know? i mean for heaven’s sake i thought about mick jaggar for twenty five years. where is he? so much for the law of attraction. how is it that my little ego knows what is best for me? it doesn’t.
i really love you joe, you are the greatest. how’s about posting and writing about YOUR practical experiences with cleaning/forgiving.
Lee
Hi Lee. I write about some life altering experiences of my own with forgiveness in my new book, “The Key.” It will be out Oct 19. The real important thing, though, is to forgive all, including yourself. Then watch what happens.
Blessings,
joe
Hi Joe
Please note that it was Muhammad Yunus who won Nobel Prize for starting Grameen Bank for microcredit Loans in Bangladeshi not in India.
Khizer K