Authority is the second persuasion technique outlined in the book Yes!, which focused on the six universal principles of social influence. ‘Authority’ deals with the basic concept that people want to follow the experts.
The general highlighted recommendations here are that:
1. If you are not an expert at something yourself, get someone else who is, to do the talking for you
2. If nobody is an expert, claim that someone is anyway, and give them the expert or specialist title, as people will give more weight to those who have been deemed the expert (whether they really are or not)
3. If you work alone, post a sign as to your (true or fabricated) expertise for visitors, and hang related diplomas if you have them.
These are good techniques and very simple to understand and implement. In business, these are practiced often and widely successful.
As much as this technique advises to ‘dupe’ people in points 2 and 3, and plays into the reality that most people are either gullible or too busy to care or test the authenticity of the ‘authority’, I am so pleased that at Staffwell we actually stands by our expertise, by truly developing experts in given areas and/or hiring them into the team.
However, and without a doubt, there are a lot of frauds out there.
As with everything, buyer beware guidelines should always apply, especially in recruitment; always screen thoroughly your vendors, clients and candidates. Poor presentations, 20 year olds claiming to be experts, recruiters that have switched firms (possibly committing white collar crimes on the way out), and CVs that get presented without interview notes (hence proving the likelihood the candidate had never even be interviewed by the agency/firm) are clear red flags that not all might be true, honest and ethical on the authority side.
Book Highlight: Yes! (2008) by Goldstein, Martin & Cialdini
Tags : expert, recruiter, specialist, авторитет, рекрутер, социальное влияние, эксперт
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Good points outlined in the article! I could also add that the authority technique works both ways – when you come across as an expert and authority on some issues and in some areas, and also letting other people know that you think of them as of experts. Turning for someone for their expertise makes him/her feel important, respected and ultimately has a positive influence on one’s self-esteem, which, in turn, makes the person want to do something for you (this also has something to do with reciprocation principle discussed in the previous posts on this blog). This can become handy when you are trying to find out some inside information – company news, industry trends, people’s contacts, market gossips, etc.