I’m pretty sure that every one of you would agree that persuasion is a super skill of effective leaders.
It’s what gets you deals.
Approvals.
And it aligns your team.
Persuasive leaders know how to win over the skeptics.
But I want to show you why that very strength might expose your biggest fear as a leader.
Persuasion works by narrowing the field.
You steer people toward a conclusion.
You reduce friction.
You increase the agreement potential.
Essentially, you make the choice for them in advance.
And then you eloquently steer them to agreeing with your choice.
But why?
Sure, it means decisions get made quicker.
It means things get done your way.
But in the end, I think you do it …
→ because you don’t trust them with the choice.
Because if you would, why would you need to persuade them?
You could simply speak with clarity.
Make things so clear that they see what you see.
Now I’m not arguing here for less guidance.
But for guidance that takes into account:
- where people actually want to go,
- where people are standing right now (and the constraints they’re operating under),
- and what they can realistically see from where they’re standing.
So, instead of asking
“How do I steer them to the right answer?”
you ask
“what do they need to see clearly so I can trust them with the choice?”
Ultimately, could it be that the core problem is that you don’t trust yourself to speak with that level of clarity?
That might sting a little. I know that from my own experience.
But if you make that mental flip, you’ve moved from persuasion to resonance.
The good news is that this achieves two things:
- Once people make the choice, it’s their choice. Which means they will embrace it as theirs and act accordingly.
- It scales much better.
So, the next time you feel the urge to persuade, pause and ask yourself
Am I trying to steer the decision?
or
Am I trying to make things unmistakably clear?
Keep lighting the path,
Michael
