“When asking for help, never appeal to people’s mercy or gratitude: Appeal to their self-interest.”

In your quest for success and power, you will constantly find yourself in the position of asking for help from more powerful than you. There is an art for asking for help, an art that depends on your ability to understand the person you are dealing with, and not to confuse your needs with theirs.

Most people will never master this art because they are completely trapped in their own wants and desires. They start from the assumption that the people they are appealing to have a selfless interest in helping them. They talk as if their needs mattered to those people, people who probably could not care less. Sometimes, they refer to larger issues: A great cause or grand emotions such as love and gratitude. They go for the big picture when simple, everyday realities would have much more appeal. What they do not realize is that even the most powerful persons are locked inside needs of their own, and that if you make no appeal to their self-interests, they merely see you as desperate or, at best, a waste of time.

“The shortest and best way to make your fortune is to let people see clearly that it is in their interests to promote yours.”

Some people will see an appeal to their self-interest as ugly and ignoble. They would prefer to be able to exercise charity, mercy, and justice, which are their ways of feeling superior to you. When you beg them for help, you emphasize their power and status. They are powerful and successful enough to need nothing from you except the chance to feel superior. They are dying to fund your project, to introduce you to powerful people, provided of course, that all this would be done in public and for a good cause. Usually, the more public, the better. Not everyone, then, can be approached through cynical self-interest. Some people will be put off by it because they do not want to seem to be only motivated by such a public display. For those who are interested in such a display of public generosity, they need opportunities to display their good heart genuinely and generously.

Do not be shy, give them that opportunity. It is not as if you are cunning them by asking for help. It is really their pleasure to give and to be seen giving. Just remember: You must distinguish the differences among successful and powerful people and figure out what makes them tick. When they ooze greed, do not appeal to their charity. When they want to look charitable and noble, do not appeal to their greed.

JMD

Free Speech Absolutist

Personal & Corporate Fixer

Michel Ouellette JMD, ll.l., ll.m.
Systemic Strategic Planning / Regulatory Compliance / Crisis & Reputation Management

Skype: jmdlive

Phone: 1. 613.539.1793

Email: jmdlive@live.ca

Web: https://www.jmichaeldennis.live/

Michel Ouellette / J. Michael Dennis is a Former Attorney, a Trial Scientist, a Crisis & Reputation Management Expert, a Public Affairs & Corporate Communications Specialist, a Warrior for Common Sense and Free Speech.

Follow JMDlive on:

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Leave Nothing to Chance: It is like shooting ducks blindfolded.

In the game of life, the infinite game of life, the infinite game of success and power, leave nothing to chance. What is the point of winging it, of just hoping you may be able to charm this or that client? It is like shooting ducks blindfolded. Arm yourself with a little knowledge and your aim will improve.

In the realm of success and power, your goal is to acquire a certain degree of control over future events and circumstances. Part of the problem you face, then, is that most people will not confide and tell you anything about their thoughts, emotions, and plans. Controlling what people say and are telling you, they often keep the most critical parts of their character, their weaknesses, flaws, ulterior motives and/or obsessions, hidden from you. The result: You cannot predict their moves and are constantly in the dark. To remediate this situation, you must find a way to probe them, to find out their secrets and hidden intentions, without letting them know what you are up to.

This may not be as difficult as you may think. A friendly front will let you secretly gather information on friends and enemies alike. Another way is to spy on your friends and enemies. The method is simple, powerful, but risky: You will certainly gather intelligence, but you have very little control over the people, the spies doing the work for you. Perhaps will they ineptly reveal your spying, or even secretly turn against you. It is far better to spy yourself, to pose as a friend while secretly gathering information.

During social gatherings and innocuous encounters, pay attention. This is when most people have their guards down. By suppressing your own personality, you can make them reveal things. The brilliance of this strategy is that they will mistake your interest in them for friendship. You are not only gathering intelligence, but you are also making allies.

Nevertheless, use this type of maneuver with caution and care. If people begin to suspect you are worming secrets out of them under the cover of conversation, they will strictly avoid you. Emphasise friendly chatter, not valuable information. Your search for valuable information cannot be too obvious, or your probing questions will reveal more about yourself and your intentions than about the intelligence you hope to find.

One effective way to do your spying is to pretend to bare your heart to the person you are spying on. By doing so, you make that person more likely to reveal his or her own secrets. Give people a false confession and they will give you a real one. Another effective strategy would be to vehemently contradict people you are in conversation with as a way of irritating them, stirring them up so that they lose some of the control over their words. In their emotional reaction they will reveal all kinds of truths about themselves, truths you can later use against them.

Another method of indirect spying is to test people, to lay little traps that make them reveal things about themselves. By tempting people into certain acts, you learn about their loyalty, their honesty, and so on. This kind of knowledge about people is often the most valuable of all: Armed with it, you can predict their actions in the future.

“In the land of the two-eyed, the third eye of the spy gives you the omniscience of the gods. You see further than others, and you see deeper into them.”

Intelligence is critical to success and power, but just as you spy on other people, you must be prepared for them to spy on you. One of the most potent weapons and defensive move in the battle for intelligence is giving out false information. By planting the information of your choice, you control the game.

JMD

Free Speech Absolutist

Personal & Corporate Fixer

Michel Ouellette JMD, ll.l., ll.m.
Systemic Strategic Planning / Regulatory Compliance / Crisis & Reputation Management

Skype: jmdlive

Phone: 1. 613.539.1793

Email: jmdlive@live.ca

Web: https://www.jmichaeldennis.live/

Michel Ouellette / J. Michael Dennis is a Former Attorney, a Trial Scientist, a Crisis & Reputation Management Expert, a Public Affairs & Corporate Communications Specialist, a Warrior for Common Sense and Free Speech.

Follow JMDlive on:

JMD Live Online Business Consulting, Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, Mastodon, Tumblr, Instagram, jmichaeldennis.ca

“Reconciliation is out of the question; only one side can win, and one must win totally“

This is the fate that faces us when we sympathize with our enemies, when pity, or hope of reconciliation, makes us pull back from doing away with them: We only strengthen their fear and hatred of us. We have beaten them, and they are humiliated; yet, we nurture these resentful vipers who, one day, if provided with the opportunity, would not hesitate to kill us. This is all truer with a former friend who has become an enemy. The law governing fatal antagonisms reads as follow: “Reconciliation is out of the question; only one side can win, and one must win totally.”

“Those who seek to achieve things, to achieve success and acquire power should show no mercy.”

“Crush the enemy” is a key strategic tenet of the game of life, the infinite game of life, the infinite game of success and power. The essence of this tenet is as follow: All your enemies, without exception, wish you hill. There is nothing they want more than to eliminate you from the race. If, in your struggles with them, out of mercy or hope of reconciliation, you stop halfway you only make them more determined, more embittered, and providing them with the opportunity for, someday, take revenge. They may act friendly for the time being, but this is only because you defeated them. They have no other choice but to bide their time. There is only one remedy to such a situation: Have no mercy. Crush your enemies as totally as they would not crush you. Ultimately, the only peace and security you can hope for, from your enemies, or competitors, is their disappearance.

In the game of life, in the infinite game of life, in the infinite game of success and power, in your struggle to build and live the life of your dreams, in your struggle for success and power, you inevitably stir up rivalries and create enemies. There will always be people you cannot win over, who will remain your enemies no matter what. But whatever wound you inflicted on them, deliberately or not, do not take their hatred personally. Just recognize the fact that there is, or may be, no possibility of peace, of reconciliation between you, especially as long as you stay at the top of the game. If you let them stick around, as certainly as night follows day, they will seek revenge. With an enemy like this around, you will never be secure and, for you, to wait for them to show their cards would just be silly. In defeating your enemies, never go halfway.

Never going hallway when defeating your enemies should very rarely be ignored, but there are circumstances when it is better to let your enemies and adversaries destroy themselves. When such a thing is possible, this alternative is preferable than to make them suffer by your hand. When you have someone in the ropes, but only when you are sure they have no chance of recovery, let them hang themselves. Let them be the agents of their own destruction. The result will be the same as for you totally annihilating them but you will not feel half as bad.

Remember, sometimes by crushing an enemy or adversary, you may embitter them so much that they will spend years plotting a revenge. Never let your guard down and, if this happen, if they plot revenge years later, simply crush them again.

JMD

Free Speech Absolutist

Personal & Corporate Fixer

Michel Ouellette JMD, ll.l., ll.m.
Systemic Strategic Planning / Regulatory Compliance / Crisis & Reputation Management

Skype: jmdlive

Phone: 1. 613.539.1793

Email: jmdlive@live.ca

Web: https://www.jmichaeldennis.live/

Michel Ouellette / J. Michael Dennis is a Former Attorney, a Trial Scientist, a Crisis & Reputation Management Expert, a Public Affairs & Corporate Communications Specialist, a Warrior for Common Sense and Free Speech.

Follow JMDlive on:

JMD Live Online Business Consulting, Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, Mastodon, Tumblr, Instagram, jmichaeldennis.ca

When you are weaker than your opponent, there is nothing to be gained by fighting a useless fight. Know how to pick your battles. Fighting a loss fight gives you nothing to gain but pain and martyrdom, and, in the process, a lot of people who do not believe in your fight, who do not believe in your cause will be injured, and possibly even die. Weakness is not a sin and can even become a strength if you master the art of playing it right. Fortunes changes and the mightiest of the mightiest are often brought down. In appropriate times and circumstances, playing the card of “surrender” may conceal great power. Playing the surrender card often lull your opponent into complacency. It provides you the time to recoup, time to undermine and time to plan your revenge. Never sacrifice that time in exchange for honor in a battle that you cannot win.

Keep this in mind: People trying to make a show of their authority are easily deceived by the surrender strategy. Your outward sign of submission makes them feel important. Satisfied that you respect them, they become easier targets for a later counterattack. Measuring your power overtime, never sacrifice long-term maneuverability for the short-lived glories of martyrdom.

What gets us into trouble in the realm of success, power and quest for influence is often our own overreaction to the moves of our rivals. That overreaction creates problems we would have avoided have we been more reasonable. It also has an endless rebound effect, for our rivals to respond by overreacting as well. It is often our first instinct to react, to meet aggression with some kind of aggression. The next time it happens to you, try something different: Try not to resist, not to fight back, but to turn the other cheek and bend. You may be surprised to find this often neutralizes the aggressive behavior of your opponents; they expected you, even wanted you to react with force and they are now caught off-guard and confounded by your lack of resistance. You are now in control of the situation because your surrender is part of a larger plan to lull your opponent into believing he has defeated you.

This is the essence of the surrender strategy: Inwardly you stay firm, but outwardly you bend. Deprived of a reason to get angry, your opponent will often be bewildered, unlikely to react with more violence, which would, again, demand a reaction from you. Instead, you are allowed the time and space to plan your countermoves that will bring your opponent down. In the battle of the intelligent against the brutal and the aggressive, the surrender strategy is the supreme weapon. The surrender strategy requires self-control and duplicity. Those who genuinely surrender are giving up their freedom and may be irremediably crushed by the humiliation of their defeat. What you want to do is: To only appear to surrender, to make believe, to play dead for a while only to come back stronger later on.

Yes, indeed, in certain circumstances, it can be better to surrender than to fight. Faced with a more powerful opponent and a sure defeat, it is often also better to surrender than facing a defeat or having to run away. Running away is never an option. Running away may save you for the time being, but your opponent will eventually catch up with you. If you surrender, instead, you are creating an opportunity to coil around your opponent and, in due time, to strike all fangs out from close up.

The point of surrendering is to save your hide for a later date when you can reassert yourself.

Michel Ouellette JMD, ll.l., ll.m.
Systemic Strategic Planning / Regulatory Compliance / Crisis & Reputation Management

Skype: jmdlive

Phone: 1. 613.539.1793

Email: jmdlive@live.ca

Web: https://www.jmdlive.info/

Michel Ouellette / J. Michael Dennis is a Former Attorney, a Trial Scientist, a Crisis & Reputation Management Expert, a Public Affairs & Corporate Communications Specialist, a Warrior for Common Sense and Free Speech.

Follow JMDlive on:

JMD Live Online Business Consulting, Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, Mastodon, Tumblr, Instagram, jmichaeldennis.ca