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Mirror Neuron on the Wall…

It appears that mirror neurons are at the heart of empathy. Empathy is certainly at the heart of influence. When you look at other people, listen to other people, feel other people, mirror neurons activate and translate what that person is experiencing to you.

Empathy is invisible. To be empathetic with the other person’s situation endears you to them, breaks down resistance, and helps them feel that you are more like them, and therefore the suggestions you make are more influential.

Empathy is arguably the single most important factor in influencing others.

Empathy is the ability to feel … to understand … to walk a mile in their shoes. Empathy means that you can feel and see life from the perspective of the other person. If and when you can do that, you can be influential. You can build a strong rapport that can act as the basis of your recommendation and carry significant weight.

You could employ all the techniques in this book, but if you can’t feel what they feel, you will never truly be a person of great influence.

Imagine you’re watching the CNN coverage of the torrential rains and severe flooding in Myanmar back in 2008: You see a woman with her two young children as the floods sweep in. She is separated at an almost equal distance from each one of them. Each is being taken away in an opposite direction. She has to act fast but … she can save only one of her children. That was one of the toughest things I’ve ever watched. That kind of empathy ...

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