All About Integrity
“The most important persuasion tool you have in your entire arsenal is integrity.” –Zig Ziglar
I’m not a persuasion cop. I’m not any kind of cop. In fact, I actively dislike cops. My job and my passion in life is to teach you what I have learned about persuasion. Without attempting to monitor or pass judgment, part of that teaching is guiding you the in the ways in which this information can be misused for manipulation. I learned tough lessons the hard way when I was a young, eager, foolish man. As a result of those lessons learned, I know a thing or two about integrity and my hope is that you will learn from my heartache and trouble.
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.
When we come from a place of integrity and ethics, it allows us to use these powerful skills for good. We have a clean, clear conscience and people feel easy and comfortable trusting us. Integrity is something I discuss often in my coaching and teaching. It’s integral to the process of persuasion. I encourage and promote these without being preachy, but I do so earnestly because I know how important they’ve been for me in my progress as a persuader.
My belief is, that without ethics, integrity and congruity, a sales person will never rise above mediocrity.
One of the most valuable perceptions a prospect can have of us as salespeople is trustworthiness. When we’re in line with integrity, there’s no need to fake it.
I started living my persuasion life with total integrity and started to notice amazing things. I began drawing more of what I wanted, i.e. higher caliber clients and students, higher end mentors and coaches and teachers in my life all of whom were also trustworthy whereas previously, I was drawing less than stellar characters in my life (and suffering as a result).
Having built up that aspect of my personality, 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.