How to Influence and Persuade 2nd edn, 2nd Edition

Chapter 6

Give to take

Generosity is a scarce commodity. As business grows harder and meaner, generosity becomes ever scarcer. As generosity becomes scarcer, it becomes more valuable. This is good news for influencers. A little generosity goes a long way: it is easy to stand out from the crowd of more self-interested colleagues. Influencers take a longer-term perspective: generosity is all about self-interest in the long term. It helps build willing partners, supporters and allies.

There are two sorts of generosity. The most common sort of generosity builds popularity. There is another sort of generosity which builds influence and power. We need to know which is which.

To understand generosity as popularity we need to look at Sue’s story. ...