Ten Keys to Overcome Resistance and Start Influencing

Think back to Alcock’s seven units of our belief-generating engines. Only one of those units explicitly relies on logic and reason; the rest sort information according to our experiences and preferences. This means that (1) you can’t count on everyone understanding a situation in the same way you do, and (2) you can’t rely on cold facts to overcome others’ resistance to your message.

You have to recognize ahead of time that neither your charm nor your evidence—however necessary—will be sufficient to convince others of the wisdom of your proposals. Instead, you have to be prepared, not just for resistance, but for different forms of resistance, and you must be able to neutralize these concerns at the source right from the start of your influencing attempts. Some forms of resistance will be about the organization, some about the changes themselves, and some about you—not surprising, given that your colleagues will have different attitudes about the company, their own jobs, and you.