Influence – Lesson 8 continued

“By Rational Ambition”  (continued)

After some monologue that shows where he is on economics, Yoritomo continues – “Ambition is a sure and swift means of influence.  This is, in the first place, because men have always a tendency to follow the man who draws them in the direction of light and progress…because it is almost always from the following of the ambitious that those are chosen to attain honors and fortune.”

Would follow someone with no ambition?  Would you expect to “attain honors and fortune” by doing so?

Having a vision for the future and the courage to follow it (ambition) will attract people to you, and these people will be more open to your influence than if you had no vision and took no action.  That’s easy to understand.

The Shogun continues, making a point that successful people do not want to drag after them the incapable or the weak, so the weak will up their game to keep up with him.  Successful people like to see people on their team advancing as he does.  People will hitch their wagon to someone they can gain from.

“It is in his power to be able to employ this influence profitably for disseminating good and the love of the better around him; it is in his power to instill in the hearts of the devotees aspirations toward a noble end; it is in his power always to put them on their guard against intrigues which would have the effect of diminishing the beauty of their ambition.”

So an influential leader has the power to influence others in important ways for good.  I looked up the word “intrigue” because I don’t use that word. 

Intrigue – a crafty and involved plot to achieve your usually sinister ends.

So he says a leader can put his followers on guard against intrigues.  The next sentences it seems were written about me and my quest against my intrigues – private equity firms.

“There is beauty between the ambitious man and the intrigue all the difference that separates beauty from ugliness.  This first proceeds with head erect, toward a definite goal that he has long and maturely decided to choose; he disdains paltry methods; he seeks only to attain the end that he has set before himself.”

“He goes, without concerning himself with the stones in the road, his heart full of confidence, sustained by faith in his star which he never loses from view, notwithstanding the clouds that hide it from time to time.”

“The intrigue, on the other hand, rarely raises himself above the horde of mean desires and paltry jealousies.  Unlike the ambitious man, he acts with no other end in view than in procuring for himself money or pleasure.”

Is that to say that we should despise money and seek after poverty?

“Not so,” says Yoritomo, “for the poor man exercises little influence over the multitude.”

Again, Yoritomo makes a distinction between rational moral ambition that includes the lifting up of others against the lower form that seeks to get ahead without regard for others.

Tomorrow we will finish up these thoughts on “Rational Ambition” from the book “Influence – How to Exert it”.

Influence – Lesson 8 – continued

“By Rational Ambition”

Yoritomo continues his defense of ambition in this lesson.  Not all ambition – rational ambition.

“Ambition, when it excludes unworthy means and spurns intrigue, is it not one of the noblest passions that could be conceived?”

He talks about how we should talk to our children about ambition – 

“It is a crime to destroy in the breasts of children, under the pretense of modesty, that self-confidence which would shine like a star in the hearts of all.”

He says that it is better to encourage ambition.  We need people who will go for it and take chances.  They are the “handmaid of destiny” as they will make the progress and discoveries that will make our lives easier.

He says that we should reward the ambitious so they have an incentive to continue to do the work and take the risks that few will to make life better for all.

I find the subject he tackles next to be fascinating because he wrote it in 1186 A.D.  It has to do with questioning the morality for some to get rich, or more rather, jealousy fo the rich.  Amazing that this idea was around back then such that he addressed it then.  I guess jealousy was put in us as a useful emotion for survival in the environment and conditions when we were created, and it persists today.

Yoritomo says that yes, some rich people will be “hard-hearted” and not charitable, but that they are still of use to others as their work has benefitted others, and the capital they have collected and the money they spend is of benefit to other men (creating jobs, enabling projects).  Of course, not all rich people are “hard-hearted”, and it would seem the public sometimes loves to point the finger at a successful person to confirm their jealousy and bias, and stereotype all ambitious and successful people.  The news of good deeds does not spread as widely.

We need to preserve the incentive for the ambitious. 

Today, Yoritomo’s message would come in strong defense of capitalism and against socialism and communism, the latter which seeks to make everyone equal by taking from those that have it and giving to those who do not.  This removes the incentive for the ambitious, and soon they stop trying or go somewhere else.  

(There is certainly much redistribution going on even in capitalist countries, and a limit that disincentivizes the exercising of rational ambition.  I think we are getting closer.  Let us not find it.)

More tomorrow!

Influence – Lesson 7

Influence – How to Exert it.  By Rational Ambition.

“Ambition is only accessible to the brave; they alone can discover the treasure hidden within it”.  These words of Yoritomo should be known for all those who set out on the conquest of life.

Here the shogun will compare ambition and courage to modesty and humility.

“Ambition should, equally with goodness or any other virtue, form the object of rational teaching.  But for that, it would be necessary to disengage ourselves from prejudices which brand it as a fault which we ought to disassemble.”

Some people think that being ambitious will make them look bad, because ambition is not a good quality.  Perhaps some think that to achieve and get ahead of others in any way is to step on others or take advantage of them.  Yoritomo goes on –

“In order to form a genuine and productive man, it is necessary to possess a great number of qualities which people who pride themselves on their modesty will always ignore.  What is understood by modesty?  Is it not too often a sham virtue which, under the borrowed linements of humility, hides the terrible defeat of weakness?”

“Would if not rather be the tinsel in which idleness likes to dress itself up in order to abandon itself with ease to its favorite vice?” 

Woah.  He calls it like he sees it.  He is saying that many people use modesty and humility as an excuse or justification, even if only to themselves, for their weakness.  They may see ambition as a vice and, therefore, do not have to summon the courage necessary to follow it.

“Modesty is the enemy of courageous undertakings, acts that require a display of energy that ambition or boldness alone can decide on.  It is nearly always the sign of a want of confidence in oneself.  It is the safeguard of the self-respect of the incapable.”

“Many weak mortals, irresolute, ideal or incompetent, instead of seeking to acquire the qualities which they lack, prefer to declare loudly ‘Oh as for me, I shall never succeed in attaining this end, for the good reason that I shall not undertake it.  I am a modest person.  I have a hatred of fame and renown surrounding my name, and I pity keenly all those who are tormented by the desire to shine!”

He goes on about this – 

“If he is really convinced of his unimportance, we should pity him, for he will suffer in feeling himself insignificant, and this feeling will lead him little by little to hypochondria unless it inclines on the side of jealousy.  Such is almost without exception the punishment of the weak: they have not themselves the courage to undertake great things and they do not forgive those who achieve them.”

He has a couple paragraphs talking about academics who study and read, but do nothing useful themselves.  

“This kind of modest man who ignores thus his duty toward others is less useful to humanity than an ambitious man…”

“It is by developing ambition in their breasts that the leaders of the multitude have succeeded first in gaining a hearing and then in carrying conviction.  What generous impulse can we expect from a man who has only one desire: to shut himself up in the selfish quiet of life, the works of which he jealously keeps to himself?”

We must study and learn, yes.  But we must act on our ambitions, first fueled with courage and gradually replaced by confidence.

Influence – Lesson 7 continued

We are exploring the nearly century old wisdom of a Japanese shogun named Yoritomo Tashi whose manuscript was translated into the book “Influence – How to Exert it” in 1915.  

Today, we are finishing up Lesson 7 about making good decisions. 

Yoritomo says, “Soon the fame of your wisdom will spread abroad and…men will come and ask for your counsel.  For they are numerous who dare not venture alone in the paths of will – the creator of responsibilities.” 

He says that others don’t make decisions out of fear of bearing the responsibility for those decisions alone. But with the counsel of someone they trust and respect with them, they will make those decisions.

Yoritomo tells many stories to illustrate his points in the book.  I omitted them as they are long.  But he does here talk about getting better, acquiring more knowledge, and looking at and understanding situations and decisions by others to become better at making the right decisions yourself, faster and easier.

In this next passage, he also mentions that while you may be an expert and be able to make decisions in a given area or subject, don’t try to make decisions in all areas – in things you don’t know much about.  Learn to be a wise expert before helping others make decisions.

“Be counselors with well-weighted and prompt decisions; do not stray in the by-paths of which you do not know the windings, and learn to become safe and enlightened guides for yourselves before pointing out the way to those of whom your influence had made attentive and devoted disciples.”

And that closes our lesson on Decisions.  

Tomorrow we will begin a new lesson.  I won’t tell you the subject, but I will say that I wrote in my notes, “Wow!  What a lesson!”

Influence – Lesson 7

“By Decision”

If you make bad decisions and they leave their marks on your life and reputation, would others likely follow you and listen to your counsel?  The shogun teaches us.

We should not confuse decision with that tendency which certain persons display to decide any question without having studied it and too often without having understood it.  Like all qualities, decision is only acquired after repeated acts of reflection, determining the coordination of ideas and seeking expert advice.

The reasons for making a decision are always dependent on circumstances which constantly assume new character.  

I think he is saying “new information, new decision”.

In order to be able to discern and understand what decision to make, several qualities are necessary.

Reflection or concentration

Presence of mind

Will

Energy

Impartiality

Desire for Justice – Decisions that leave no remorse behind.

Forethought

I think it’s safe to say that making decisions when you are charged with emotion is a bad idea.

Yoritomo says we can learn from others who have made similar decisions and study how it turned out.  (Imagine trying to do that before the internet?  You have to seek out the right people and talk to them!)

He goes on to make this observation about people who make bad decisions – “The majority of the irresolute love to deceive themselves by the decisions which their imagination creates, and thus become the architects of their own misfortune.”

Will finish up this lesson on Decisions tomorrow.

Influence – Lesson 6 continued

“By Psychic Influence”

To finish this lesson, the old shogun turns to conviction.  Our sales trainer Jim Burlison says “in order to sell, you have to be sold yourself”, and “to the degree you are sold, is the degree you can sell anyone else”.  So the “first sale you have to make is to yourself”.  Let’s see what Yoritomo has to say –

“…without conviction, influence has little weight.  It is personal conviction which allows us to find the words necessary to introduce it into the minds of our hearers; only personal conviction can produce adepts.”

(Adept – someone who is dazzlingly skilled in any field.)

“All apostles have been persuaded of the truth of their belief, and, if some among them have been leaders of the multitude, it is because they taught a doctrine in which they themselves believed and because their discourse spread around them the radiance of fervor, which, far better than enthusiasm, can fill men’s souls and influence them.”

“….rather than being aggressive and trying to influence others forcefully and quickly, instead use steady adherence to your convictions over time – be more gentle and consistent as your ideas penetrate others.”

There you have it!  Yoritomo Burlison – shogun!

Influence – Lesson 6 continued

“BY Psychic Influence”

I’m still presenting ideas on this lesson.  In my School of Entrepreneurship classes I’d talk to my class about being the kind of person that others will follow – that is to say, that others will allow to influence them.  I could have turned the class over to Yoritomo Tashi from there.

I’m really appreciating this shogun, because he tells it like it is.  You can’t argue with him, especially since he died 800 years ago.  This book (not his only one)…what a legacy!  Here are more ideas – 

He talks about the health of the body which is related to that of the mind.  He talks about hypochondriacs -“imaginary invalids”….and that “moral error” is the prime cause of physical ailments.

Whaaaat?  It seems to me he is talking about overeating and not exercising, which causes all sorts of problems.  “Moral error” he calls it.  When you have control and you don’t use it, and it leads to bad outcomes…”moral error”.  The words used were different back then, but they sure seem accurate and cutting now.  

Here he talks about when a “superior mind” meets an “inferior one”, that the superior one prevails.  (In today’s society, it may be rude and offensive to categorize people as inferior or superior, but please don’t be put off by the words.  From the inner – the outer; and clearly some people are getting far better outcomes than others in their lives.)

“Influence is synonymous with ‘substitution of will’ – ours for the will the other person manifest.  When two forces come together it is often the evil that gives way, for, to possess the genuine endowment of influence, certain qualities must come into play which rarely fall to the lot of mediocre minds….they (mediocre minds) are fatally enslaved to the satisfaction of their instincts, and their strength sapped with fleeting pleasures, and lack the impassioned desire of the better – the creator of cohesion forces.”

Next the shogun talks about a person who masters his consciousness will never allow himself to be thrown off by people who are evil or unclear – and that those people will never be successful in influencing others.

“The masters of conscious will alone can hope to arrive at this splendid goal of influencing others, for, their spirit being imbued with nothing but love of truth, they will ignore those passing whims that ever imprint falsehood of deceit on the thought of those who love to stray along the devious by-paths of unworthy considerations.  The weak-minded must never hope to possess completely the power of dominance, for they ignore the unity of thought, in as much as their mouth utters one word while their mind conceives another; thus the image cannot take shape in them except in an imperfect fashion, and we know how important a part that plays which we might call – the materialization of the idea in the art of influencing others.”

Decoding the human social mind…800 years ago.  Wow.

From the inner…the outer.

Influence – Lesson 6 continued

“By Psychic Forces”

The word “shogun” is a title that was granted by the Emporer to the top military commander.  Between 794-1185, members of the military gradually became more powerful than the court officials and eventually took control of the whole government.  It is no wonder, as Yoritomo Tashi understood so much about influence.

He writes – “Intensity of determination, when it reaches a certain point, possesses a dazzling influence which few ordinary mortals can resist, for it envelopes them before they are aware of it…”

Did you ever meet someone who was so incredibly determined that you couldn’t resist helping them?  Yoritomo goes on to say that you don’t even want to resist him.  You like to go along with people like that.

“They are rare who are morally sufficient for themselves and who pass through life without feeling the need of resting their weaknesses on a supporting and directing force.”

He goes onto say that one of the reasons for this is that they don’t have to take responsibility – they can blame someone else if things go wrong.

“Still less numerous are those who accept with courage the consequences of their acts and do not seek to place the responsibility for those acts on outside influence, which they are ready to repudiate if they are successful.  But should failure come…they blame it on their advisors.”

He is saying people take the credit when things go well, but blame others when they don’t.

“The timid group are afraid to act except under an impelling power.”

As we close the day, let me give you more passages from the shogun that you can interpret for yourself.

“There are a small group of persons of bad faith…some have a sickly dependence on others…feeling incapable of achieving anything themselves, they are content to enjoy the fruit of others exertions, and they take credit themselves.  Listen when they speak, but don’t look them in the eye so as not to be swayed by them, saving your psychic forces for when you speak to influence them.”

“…give your thought the strength and fixity required to influence others…and don’t get distracted for a moment…the effort will produce vibratory waves the circulation of which must touch the brain of those whom they wish to subjugate.”

I find this fascinating.  Anything that stands the test of 1000 years – it’s not the superficial expressions of the latest book with a catchy title.

More tomorrow!

Influence – Lesson 6

“By Psychic Influence”

Look at this first paragraph.  Holy smokes –

“Psychic influence consists in awakening the forces too often wasted by a habitual state of moral weakness, or perhaps lessened from a physiological cause.  It is the power that determines the processes which we wish to produce in other minds.  It is the art of substituting for the want of resolution in others our own will, which they blindly, sometimes unconsciously, ever glad to feel themselves guided and directed by a moral power which they can not elicit in themselves”.  

Ok, the first sentence.  He is saying there is a mental force in us that we can use for influencing others that many waste by a “habitual state of moral weakness”.  That could be the belief that “I want to do the minimum to get by,” or “I will spend my time figuring out how to get more than my share instead of earning it,” or “I do not believe in myself so I will play small” or any other manifestation of moral weakness.

He also says this force can be lessened by a physiological cause.  When we are hurt, diseased or sick, we can think of little but our affliction, and our ability, desire and motivation to achieve or make change by influencing a group falls away.  We must take care of our health, for without it, we do not have the energy or psychic force to lead.

Let’s look at the third and final sentence in this passage.  

Yoritomo says that most people crave leadership.  They want to be led by a good leader.  They have not made firm decisions on matters themselves and will follow a leader who can make moral resolutions on what to do and which way to go for them.

We are social beings.  Not everyone is a leader or wants to be or is made to be.  Nevertheless, groups or people need leaders – and want them.

As I read one chapter after another, I found myself taking more and more notes.  In this chapter, I took three full pages of notes.  We’ve only talked about the first paragraph.  We’ll continue tomorrow.

Influence – Lesson 5

“By setting a good example”

This seems obvious.  If we set a bad example, will anyone listen to us?  Let’s look at some passages from Yoritomo.  In this one, he talks about the people you hang around with and how the group will follow the one who is doing good.

“Our most frequent associations are never indifferent to our mentality, and we always submit voluntarily or unconsciously, to the ascendancy of those that surround us….then the thought, projected into an enveloping center by a superior influence, is received by brains of weaker caliber, which register it mechanically, in order to reproduce it on similar occasions.”

Wow.  Yoritomo was quite the observant psychologist.  And they must have had some great language schools back then!

In more contemporary prose, it has been said, “Tell me who your associations are, and I will tell you who you are.”  I would point out that when you read a book or listen to a podcast you are “hanging out” with that author or person speaking and being influenced by them.  They are one of your “friends”.

Yoritomo – “Some people are dark and negative….some are joyful and radiate good energy.”

Look at this sentence –

“One of the greatest obstacles to the doing of good actions is the timidity based on the fear of responsibility, which haunts mediocre minds.”

In this passage, the Shogun says that courage is necessary to influence others.  If you are to impart a message or get others to do something, you had better be right, or they will find out in time and hold you responsible.  Many, even if they are noble and true, fear trying to influence others to their position because they do not want to take responsibility for what happens – the results and the group’s reaction to those results.

If you want to achieve a lot, you must lead, and for that, courage is necessary.