Are credibility and integrity vital ingredients in the art of persuasion?
Persuasion is often seen as completely morally neutral –an art or science that can be employed for any purpose. Strictly speaking, this is true. However, people often make the mistake of being too Machiavellian. It would be nice to think that people do the right thing as a matter of conscience rather than strategy, but regardless there is a logical and pragmatic case for being truthful and considerate while practising persuasion. You never know who you will meet in their future career incarnation. And professional karma does apply. There are many well known examples where a professional slight has come back to bite a public figure where it hurts. The stain of dishonesty, duplicity or unreliability is very hard to remove and can diminish your credibility irretrievably. The art of persuasion is difficult, particularly if you are dealing with strangers with whom you haven’t established credibility. That is why networks are so important. We all use networks in our daily lives to conduct du
