Have you earned the right to speak?
Getting people to listen calls for:
Insight.
When what you say truly helps somebody, you form a connection.
Benjamin Franklin, one of the most admired figures in American history and known for his homespun wisdom, had a remarkable career.
Interestingly, he had little formal education. He attended school for only two years, yet he was highly respected because of his knowledge and keen insight. A voracious reader and an intellectually curious man, he became expert in a remarkable number of areas: printing and publishing, politics, civic activism, the sciences and diplomacy.
He was an innovative inventor who secured the support of France during the Revolutionary War, founded the first public library in America, served as the first president of the American Philosophical Society, and helped draft the Declaration of Independence.
Biographer Walter Isaacson called Franklin ‘the most accomplished American of his age and the most influential in inventing the type of society America would become’. People felt a sense of connection when Franklin shared his wisdom.
When you love people, work hard, study, develop and share your expertise in a given area, they will learn to respect and listen to you. And when it comes to listening, you don’t get what you demand, you get what you earn.