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Written by admin on 27th April, 2008 .....  Print This Post

If you want to learn how to change behaviors that seem intractable this book will give you powerful change tools. Influencers will help managers and leaders with organizational change, parents with their children’s behaviors. This book isn’t about quick fixes, self-help, or even the “persuasion techniques” that salesmen need to close a deal or managers need to get their orders followed. This book is about influencing behavior over the long view. This is an important book.

Let me address some criticisms I’ve heard about this book. The principle complaints seem to be: the book is poorly written, there are 5 authors, the book mocks the `Serenity’ prayer, and lastly it is not a self-help book. The reading level of this book is probably greater than the 8th grade level most books are written at. However the book is well organized, threads its various stories and points throughout and kept me involved to the end. The joint efforts of these authors has produced two other fine books (Crucial Conversations and Crucial Confrontations) so their writing skill and collaboration are proven.

Serenity has become apathy: the acceptance of things that we can change–a substitution for courage. This book calls readers to challenge the status quo and to lead change where possible. Lastly, this is NOT a self-help book. This is not a book for salespeople or others looking for persuasion techniques. If you want to learn about those things read Tipping point, anything by David J. Lieberman (such as “Get Anyone to Do Anything”). Read “Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion” by Robert B. Cialdini or “The Psychology of Persuasion” by Kevin Hogan. This is a book on how to help others.

“Influencers” creates an entire change model based on the fact that people choose their behaviors based on what they believe works and only change after answering two questions: can I do it and is it worth it? Those two dimensions of desiring change–motivation and ability–have personal, social, and structural elements, resulting in 6 strategies influencers can use to leverage change.

The book solves the paradox of having so much information but little change, for example dieting or smoking. We know what to do but we don’t do it: we need people who are Influencers. Influencers know that behaviors are not changed through verbal persuasion but through personal experience. When experience can’t be had Influencers need to create profound visceral experiences. Change “takes a combination of strategies aimed at a handful of vital behaviors to solve profound and persistent problems” (76). This book will teach you how to do this! If you are the kind of person that reads books like Rick Warren’s “A Purpose Driven Life” or John Maxwell’s “Becoming a Person of Influence” you will like this book. If you want to be effective in helping others without force or by power you should read this book.
Influencer: The Power to Change Anything