In recent blogs I have been urging you to stand in the shoes of those you wish to influence. Recently I read a blog by futurist Gihan Perera that gave another reason to urge you on. In his blog There’s an ‘I’ in Team he reminds us that the young new entrants to our workforce have a very different WIIFM (What’s in it for me?) than new entrants of past decades. Gihan talks about their wishes including the need for identity and personal development. 

So they won’t care what you think unless you can address the bulk of their WIIFM. 

I have a little tool that I use when starting the process of identifying the WIIFM of those I wish to influence. It is called the Persuasion Pyramid (see diagram below). It makes you ask how much you really know about your stakeholder and what they are trying to achieve. 

Check it out and give yourself a score out of 10 in each box for the six elements of the pyramid. For example, the top two boxes ask how well you understand your stakeholder’s current and future challenges. 

Lower scores provide an opportunity to identify more of their WIIFM. Higher scores are where you can concentrate on aligning your services to their need. Simples! 

The Persuasion Pyramid

If you have a favourite tool for standing in the shoes of others, please share it with me and I will share it with others if you wish. Or simply drop me a line for a catch up.