Extraordinary Influence Summary

Extraordinary Influence

Tim Irwin

How can you help someone reach their full potential? Managers, team leaders, and especially parents think that the answer is praise. But the real answer isn't as simple as giving out free compliments. To really get others to reach their dreams, you've got to appeal to their deepest values and skills. The best way to do this is called affirmation.

Affirmation is the process of building a supportive environment of encouraging people to act on their own intuition. No matter your age or situation it's a skill that can be acquired.

This is just what Tim Irwin teaches in Extraordinary Influence: How Great Leaders Bring Out the Best in Others. Irwin is a professor of organizational and clinical psychology, and he bases his claims on science. Affirmation can be useful in many different settings in your personal and professional life. It can help you reach your own dreams as well, by allowing you to recognize your own achievements and reward yourself accordingly.