Axis of Influence: How Credibility and Likeability Intersect to Drive Success [Paperback]

Michael Lovas (Author), Pam Holloway (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 1, 2009

Why do people like you or trust you? Why do they hire you or follow you?

This book shows you that it's all in your Likeability and Credibility. Lovas and Holloway explore and expose these qualities and show you how to systematically improve both. If you want to improve your results with people, you need to understand how they perceive you. That's where Likeability and Credibility become vital to you. This is a must-read for every professional interested in achieving greater success!

Michael Lovas and Pam Holloway are authors of several popular programs and books including Face Values, How to read people and connect with them in less than three minutes. Find their other fascinating resources at: www.aboutpeople.com

Editorial Reviews

Review

How do people decide if they like you or trust you? Very few people can answer that question, but you can find the answers inside this amazing book! Axis of Influence is a must-read for anyone who wants to influence, persuade or sell. --Steven Drozdeck, Author of The Trust Equation, The Mega Producers, and What They Don't Teach You in Sales 101

Read this book before your business associate, neighbor or significant other reads it. In this informative and delightful read you will discover the hidden thought processes that operate inside the minds of the people you seek to influence and that seek to influence you. You will also gain the tools to improve the perception of your credibility and likeability - two essential elements to sustained success. --Eldon Taylor, Author of Choices and Illusions and Mind Programming

Michael Lovas and Pam Holloway answer the question of how you can be seen as credible and just as important, likeable. Based on current social psychological research, you'll find a reader-friendly book about one of the most important areas of influence. If you want to be seen as more credible, grab this book right now. It's the best on the subject there is. Kevin Hogan, Author of The Science of Influence.

Review

How do people decide if they like you or trust you? Very few people can answer that question, but you can find the answers inside this amazing book! Axis of Influence is a must-read for anyone who wants to influence, persuade or sell.

Michael Lovas and Pam Holloway answer the question of how you can be seen as credible and just as important, likeable. Based on current social psychological research, you'll find a reader-friendly book about one of the most important areas of influence. If you want to be seen as more credible, grab this book right now. It's the best on the subject there is.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 182 pages
• Publisher: Morgan James Publishing (April 1, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1600375340
• ISBN-13: 978-1600375347
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,051,442 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars The Social Influence of Liking Leads to Your Improved Credibility, May 20, 2009

By 

James East (Charlotte, NC) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Axis of Influence: How Credibility and Likeability Intersect to Drive Success (Paperback)

In the short book by the authors Michael Lovas and Pam Holloway, they tell us about how our likability can lead to an improvement in our credibility within the business world. This is mainly for reasons of potential sales as the target audience is for businessmen and women involved in the client/customer relationship. However, if you are not in sales, the methods and processes described can also help the normal corporate working Kathy attempting to improve her standing inside the sometimes glass ceiling corporate world.

Though the title is Axis of Influence, the authors hit hard on only three (3) social influences of the Liking-Loving Influence, the Reciprocation Influence, and the Consistency Influence. However, they do touch on other influences such as Influence-from-mere-association and others, but mainly stick to the 3 above. A good book and though the bibliography is good, I rated the book at 3 stars as I would have liked to have known a little more of the research that enabled the authors to come to some of their conclusions.

As a side note, I can personally attest based on my experience that the methods described, if practiced in an ethical way, are sure to improve and retain your standing in either sales or from your superiors.


If your are interested in more of some other social influences, you should review the following recommendations: Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion (polymath classic), How We Know What Isn't So (very good), Mean Markets and Lizard Brains (Hidden Gem), The Psychology of Judgment & Decision Making (Classic), or Poor Charlie's Almanack (Charlie's Insights). Good reading and enjoy :)

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Well-researched. Highly readable. Very practical., April 29, 2009

By 

Dianna Booher "Author of Creating Personal Pr... (Dallas/Ft. Worth, TX USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Axis of Influence: How Credibility and Likeability Intersect to Drive Success (Paperback)

Much has been written about credibility--but not more comprehensibly than Lovas and Holloway in this book. They have built upon the work of researchers such as Kouzes and Posner in their link between leadership and credibility and added one KEY factor to the equation: likeability. The authors' central message: Many credible people never find a ready audience for their work, and many likeable people never become credible. But marry the two characteristics--credibility and likeability--and you have a winning combination.

Further, the authors take the ingredients of likeability and credibility and make them tangible--and marketable. In short, their book tells sales professionals, managers, and consultants how their language, appearance, personality, hallway reactions, and marketing materials all reflect these two characteristics.

Well-researched. Highly readable. Very practical.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Impact's Fulcum, May 14, 2009

By 

Craig L. Howe "The Pointed Pundit" (Darien, CT United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Axis of Influence: How Credibility and Likeability Intersect to Drive Success (Paperback)

Most people understand that trust, likeability and credibility combine somehow to form a fulcrum leading towards inpact.

How these intangibles interact to effect people's perceptions remains a mystery to many. Michael Lovas and Pam Holloway explore these qualities. In Axis of Influence they reveal many of the lessons they have uncovered during their more than two decades of research into the pyschology of communications, business relationships and learning.

If you seek impact in business and relationships, this book is a great place to start. It goes "under the hood" to reveal what goes on in people's minds as you first meet and begin to form subconscious decisions.