Pull

Principles > Pull

Principle | How it works | So What

Principle

Lead them such that they choose to act.

How it works

Pulling a person in motivation means creating conditions that they chose themselves. It means showing them how something else will be beneficial to them. It means them deciding rather than just you deciding.

Most methods of persuasion are based on creating pull rather than push, which is generally coercive in nature.

Creating desire

Pull creates desire. It is about making the other person want what you are offering. It is subtly changing how they perceive the world such that they see what you have and want it. Once you have created desire, then the internal tension set up in the other person will lead them in the right direction.

Push and Pull

Push and pull are a matched pair: Pushing is the stick to the carrot of pulling. It is fishing rather than shooting. It is selling as opposed to the telling of push methods. It is creating desire rather than creating fear. It is creating attraction rather than repulsion.

In business motivation, pushing is a management method whilst pulling is used by leaders.

Pulling is more difficult than pushing, but is ultimately more effective. When you push, you do not know what direction the other person will take. It is like the sheepdog running into the flock of sheep: they all head off in different directions. Pulling has just one direction. It is like being the shepherd, towards whom his flock will move.

Use push and pull together: Push just to break people away from their current position. This will cause confusion, after which you can much more easily pull them. This method is used by martial artists in such as Aikido and Tai Chi Chuan.

So What

Learn to pull. Much of this site is about pulling.

Creating pull means creating desire. Creating desire means knowing not only what people want but how they decide what they want, and working at this process level.

Also balance push with pull. Sometimes people need a shove to get them going.

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