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Ask for favours
I remember the poster on the wall of my primary school: ‘Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.’ As you grow up, you learn that if you want others to help you, you need to help them first. In business, this is expressed as building up a bank of ‘social capital’ that you can cash in when you really need it.
Well, I’m sorry, Mum and Dad, but it doesn’t work that way. If you want someone’s support, you need to ask them to do you a favour first.
It was Benjamin Franklin who first discovered this effect. To win a crucial vote, Franklin had to secure the backing of a rival senator. Finding that his rival had a passion for literature, Franklin pulled his masterstroke. Cornering him in the Senate library, he asked his ...
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