Leave an impact - why less is more!

More influence through assertiveness? We often want too much or just the wrong thing. Then we often leave a selfish or unfriendly impression. This goes contrary to our goal. And it does not meet people's mind anyway.

The style and the content of our communication and behavior shape the result. When it comes to how "hard" we should negotiate, there is mixed advice. The problem is that theory and practice are contradicting to some degree. The classical measurement theory makes statements in the meaning of "the more the better". But in real life, people experience a tipping point, a threshold for the strongest impact. Once this is exceeded, the impact decreases. Hence, sometimes there is "too much of a good thing". Science supports this finding.

This discussion stimulates a reflection of what you can omit from past behavior to achieve more influence. Here are a few ideas:

• less wanting to win yourself instead of investing a lot to win others
• less acting tactically instead of thinking strategically and holistically
• less justifying and defending oneself instead of accepting feedback
• less questioning the other's position instead of changing the perspective
• less insisting on processes instead of allowing degrees of freedom
• less positioning oneself against others instead of consulting with others
• less making things alone instead of involving others in finding solutions
• less talking instead of listening

Good luck!
A more detailed version of this article will be released at the Hogrefe-Academy website.