Good morning, friends. It's Rohan with your latest Career Supplement, your personal mentorship email that takes a few minutes to read, but contains stuff that will speed up your career by years. |
Today's Mentor's Corner is going to raise some eyebrows. I'm covering a topic that's usually unspoken in professional circles: using manipulation in your career (for good!). |
The term 'manipulation' often sounds negative, like something to avoid. But here's a different take: in the competitive world of work, sometimes you need to play it smart to get what you want. So, that's what I'm going to show you how to do — this email will teach you how to persuade and subtly guide situations to your advantage. |
To my loyal readers: I've been much more active on LinkedIn lately, sharing bite-sized, candid career advice for quick boosts throughout your week. It's an easy way to stay motivated and keep your career on track. So if you like my writing, follow me on LinkedIn and say hi! |
Estimated read time: 5 minutes 42 seconds |
|
📈 Mentor's Corner Insights put together by me or coaches who usually charge $750+/hour and mentor senior execs. One practical lesson a week that will make a measurable impact on your career, delivered right to you — for $0. |
|
|
The power of manipulation in our careers: influencing others in a subtle but ethical way |
I used to think "persuasion" was a dirty word… |
… until I heard my friend's horror story about going to the dentist. (I asked him if I could tell it — thanks Tom, I know you're reading!) |
Here's the gist: |
Tom was eating too much sugar, and didn't have the best flossing habits. |
And although he knew it wasn't doing his teeth any good, he put off going to the dentist for fear of what they'd find. |
So two years later, he gets serious tooth ache, and is practically forced to go. |
Turns out, his teeth were in a bad state. Like, a really bad state. And he had to undergo a painful operation. |
And here's what he said afterwards: |
"I kinda wish the dentist had tried "selling me" on booking an appointment a year earlier - woulda saved me a whole lot of pain." |
Of course, it wasn't the dentist's fault. |
|
But had the dentist used persuasion, he would've made his patient's life a lot better. |
So that's how I want you to think as we dive into today's newsletter: |
Persuasion isn't bad. |
Sometimes, it's the only tool we can use to get a good outcome - for ourselves and others. |
So, with that said, here are a few ways to ethically(!) persuade people at work. |
💼 Look busy like Benjamin |
When Benjamin Franklin started his printing business, he'd walk down the street at the busiest time of day with lots of supplies in his hands. |
Why? |
Because it made him look busy! |
So in my own career, when somebody asked me to do something, I'd say, "Sure, I've got some space on Tuesday. I'll have it done for you by Thursday." |
It's an easy tweak. But it does two things: |
Like Franklin, it showed (or gave the impression) that I was busy. Plus, people will respect your time more. It gave me the opportunity to deliver work on time, which gave me a reputation for being more reliable than anyone else.
|
|
💡 Make them think it's their idea (I love this one) |
Ever heard the saying, "You can achieve anything in life, as long as you don't care who gets the credit"? |
IMO, that's 100% true. Everyone loves their own ideas, but resists yours. So.. make them think your idea's their idea. |
To do this, drop what I call idea 'crumbs' or pointed questions that lead them to the outcome you'd like. Just don't say the actual idea directly — give them all the data points and considerations they need to get to the idea. |
|
For example, say you want to collaborate with another team at your company. But you know your boss will likely say no since they want you exclusively working on their stuff. Instead of telling your boss directly, "I want to collab with Team X", drop crumbs like: |
|
| | | | …by the way, if you use LinkedIn, go to my profile and hit the 'Follow' button. I share a mix of practical career strategy and mid-week motivation — stuff that makes it easy to keep your career on track.
Topics coming up this week: how to get promoted faster than others, how to build instant rapport with people (even senior leaders) and how to sound more confident (even if you're an introvert). See you there. | alright, let's get back to my essay… |
| |
| | |
|
🗡 Use the thin-slice of the wedge |
Ok, so.. this one's scary. |
A couple of years ago, I watched 'The Push' - a social experiment designed by 'mentalist' Derren Brown to answer the question, |
"Can a random person be psychologically coerced into killing someone else by pushing them off a roof?" |
The answer? Yes. |
(Ok, so the guy wasn't actually killed. He was caught by a hidden safety net.) |
How did Derren make them do it? |
By asking them to put 'vegetarian' labels on meat-filled sausage rolls. Once they said 'yes', he dialed up the pressure and the size of the ask. |
It's evil, I know. But, it got me thinking...could you use the same psychological trick, but for something good, in your career? |
You can. Here's how you might use tiny asks to get more professional development opportunities: |
Make a tiny ask: "I saw an online course that I think would be beneficial for my role. Would it be possible to spend an hour a week during work time to complete it?" Gradually increase the size of the ask: "I found that course really useful. Could we allocate a budget for me to attend a related conference or workshop?"
|
The gist is you want to stack up the yes's. Once people have said yes once, it's easier for them to say yes again. |
|
🤔 Ask BIG, ask big, ask small |
The exact opposite of the last one, you've probably used this already when negotiating your salary. |
Ask for something big: "Alex, how would you feel about me working remotely from home next quarter?" (says no) Ask for something smaller: "What about just part-time then? Maybe Thursdays and Fridays, when we don't have in-person meetings?" (says no) Then make your real ask. "I understand. How about this. I'd be much more productive at home instead of hanging around on Friday when our clients are not in the office. Could I head out after lunch, and join you online if a meeting comes up?"
|
It works because no-one likes saying 'No' too many times, and it lets the other party think they've won by 'beating you down'. If you asked directly for the 'real ask', you likely would have gotten a 'no' straight off the bat. |
|
That's a wrap! I had second thoughts about writing it...but it's 2024, so it was time for something a little more spicy. |
If that struck a chord, please do either one of the following: |
Forward this email to people who might need it, and tell them about my emails. It takes me ~20 hours researching and writing each of these coaching emails. Sharing it takes just 10 seconds and helps me get my thoughts out there. Leave a review on my emails! I'd love to know what part resonated most and how I can make the next one better.
|
I know I ask you to share my emails pretty regularly, but it really does help get my writing out there. Thanks! |
|
From Our Team Tried all our AI tools? | Want a better resume? Upload it to Score My Resume and get expert feedback, instantly. You'll find out if and where your resume falls short. Get your resume review |  |
| Want to make your LinkedIn profile work for you? LinkedIn Review will show you how to optimize it so you get more leads, jobs and opportunities through LinkedIn. Optimize your profile |  |
| Want to get past the ATS? Targeted Resume will check if your resume has the right keywords. Target your resume |  |
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
I can't describe the feeling of cringe I feel every time I see so-called "influencers" talking about their 9-step morning routine on LinkedIn 🤣 |
|
🔎 Speed Up Your Job Search One actionable piece of advice to help you hack your job search. |
The right way to tailor your resume to a job |
Read the full article here. |
Some people say you should tailor your resume to every job you apply to. |
But unless you have all the time in the world, doing that is very time consuming and pretty impractical. |
I'm all about saving you time in your job search — so let's look at two hacks you can use to target your resume to a job: |
✴ Tailor your skills section |
This is the easiest thing to tailor. Look at the job description you apply to, pick out core skills, and update your skills section with the ones you have. |
Even better, use the free Targeted Resume tool. It quickly finds the skills you should be including in your resume (based on the job you're applying to), plus uses AI to tell you which ones you're missing. Go to it here. |
⚡ Create 3-5 resume versions for the sub-fields you are targeting |
Don't waste your time making an entirely new resume for each role. Instead, just create one for each 'job type' you are applying for. For example, if you're applying for marketing roles, have separate resumes focused on each kind of marketing role you're applying to. You might have one targeting sales and account management roles, one targeting online advertising (like Facebook), and one aimed at more technical roles. |
🎯 By the way, if you haven't yet used Score My Resume to get an instant resume review, do that first. The tool will scan your resume for key things hiring managers look for and tell you where it falls short. Start here. |
|
|
If you're new here, let's get the intros out of the way. |
I'm Rohan. Six years ago, I found myself frustrated with the sea of misleading career advice online, so I started Resume Worded. The goal was simple: provide guidance that actually works. |
But resumes were only the tip of the iceberg. There was a lot of clichéd, generic career advice out there. So, I started this email series. Each week, I talk about real career strategy, informed not only by my experiences but by my conversations with industry leaders, senior coaches who train CEOs, and people with way more experience than I have. |
Every email you receive is written by me, not a ghostwriter. I'm here, on the other end, reading your replies. |
Until next time, |
|
Rohan @ Resume Worded |
|
|
What'd you think of today's edition? |
👍 I loved it. |
🤔 Pretty average, step it up. |
🤢 You didn't bring enough value. |
Here's a review of last week's email — thank you so much! |
|
|
P. S. To make sure your career never goes off the rails, don't miss my future emails. A simple way to make sure you get each email is: |
If you're using Gmail, hit the 3 dots at the top-right corner, and choose Move to -> Primary. Or drag this email to Primary if you're on your computer. If you're using Apple Mail, tap on our email address at the top of this email (next to "From:" on mobile) and click "Add to VIPs.".
|
|
Comments
Post a Comment