
Here’s a cautionary tale to get your 2025 off to the right start…
In 1985 Texaco and Getty Oil were locked in a terrible dispute.
The issues in the lawsuit were mind-bogglingly complex, involving obscure aspects of the law that even the lawyers struggled to wrap their heads around.
The jury was expected to take days to come to their decision.
So, everyone was shocked when the jury delivered its verdict in just a few hours: a clear decision against Texaco, for a whopping $11.1bn.
It was the largest civil settlement in US history at that time, forcing Texaco to file for bankruptcy.
Afterwards, journalists tracked down the head juror to find out why they’d made such a quick and assertive decision.
The juror explained the Texaco lawyers seemed to look down on other people in the room, including the jury. In addition, the Texaco VP was described as ‘pompous, arrogant and full of himself’.
Influence guru Dr Robert Cialdini relays this Texaco tale as an example of just how badly things can go wrong when people and organisations don’t understand the principles of persuasion.
It wasn’t the power of logic or rhetoric that had swung the decision in favour of Getty Oil. It was the simple fact that the jury had felt poorly treated by the Texaco team.
The Texaco team had made two fatal errors: they didn’t make themselves appealing or trustworthy.
This meant they failed on two important principles of persuasion – trustworthiness through authority and liking.
And it cost them everything.
Listen – don’t lose out like Texaco.
This year I’ll be showing you how to become more persuasive, more influential and more successful.
One easy-as-pie tip at a time.
Learn the tiny tweaks that transform everything and make great things happen in 2025.
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