How to Coach Yourself and Others Essential Knowledge For Coaching | Page 584

The law of authority
We are more likely to comply with someone who is (or resembles)
an authority. In other words, people prefer to take advice from
“experts". There is a deep seated duty to authority within us learned
from parents, school, religious authorities etc.
The law of liking
We are more inclined to follow the lead of someone who is similar
to us rather than someone who is dissimilar. We learn better from
people who are similar to us. We are more likely to help people who
dress like us, are the same age as us, or have similar backgrounds and
interests. We even prefer people whose names are similar to ours. For
this reason, sales trainers teach trainees to mirror and match the
customer’s body posture, mood and verbal style.
Research at the University of Sussex found that people more easily
remember faces of their own race, age group or gender than those
of others.
It's also very important to remember and use people's names. Others
are much more likely to like you and respond to you if you say "Hello
Sarah" rather than just "Hello".
The law of social proof
We view a behaviour as more likely to be correct, the more we see
others performing it. We assume that if a lot of people are doing the
same thing, they must know something that we don’t. Especially when
we are uncertain, we are more likely to trust in the collective knowledge
of the crowd. This explains herd or lemming behaviour. For example
when there is panic in the stock market everyone follows everyone else
and sells, however great investors such as Warren Buffett, know that
this is the time when the best bargains are to be had, and instead, buy.
The law of commitment and consistency
Consistency is seen as desirable as it is associated with strength,
honesty, stability and logic. Inconsistent people may be seen as two1454