The Most Important Tool
“The most important persuasion tool you have in your entire arsenal is integrity.” –Zig Ziglar
As a teacher (and a father) it’s my fervent hope to impart in my students and children the things in life that are most important which I learned the hard way. Where persuasion is concerned, this is especially the case. I’m not acting as a cop or judging or attempting to monitor my students. I am, however, hoping that the error of my ways can be avoided. A huge part of that is acting and living with integrity.
My sincerest hope as we move forward with these social influences skills, is for you to always apply ethics and integrity.
The practice of integrity and ethics go hand and hand with congruity. Congruency is a key component of persuasion. When someone really screws up and apologizes, you can tell when they’re really sorry and when they’re not.
It is always from a place of integrity and ethics that I operate from not only because I know how powerful persuasion skills are, but because I know how powerful integrity and ethics are. My students hear a lot about integrity as I discuss it often in my coaching program. I promote it wholeheartedly because I know how important they’ve been in my progress as a persuader.
My belief is, that without ethics, integrity and congruity, a sales person will never rise above mediocrity.
Trustworthiness is one of the most valuable perceptions a client or prospect can have of us as people who sell for a living. Their perception needs to be in line with the reality for it to be truly powerful.
When I realized this and started living my life, personally and professionally, with total integrity, I experienced rapid results in all facets of life. I began drawing more of what I wanted in my life. I began drawing higher end students who were infinitely trustworthy and eager and ready for the skills I teach whereas some of my prior clients sadly were not of such a high caliber (as in, not trustworthy and lacking integrity).
Having concentrated with intention on building up that aspect of my life and having an abundance of integrity in the bank is like having built up my ‘f-you’ money. I could walk away from any situation that was not comfortable because I no longer “needed” to take on just anyone but could be very selective in my processes. Consider never compromising yourself again as the first step. It’s an amazing feeling.
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