If you’ve followed Influence PEOPLE for any length of time then you’re familiar with Sean Patrick. You know Sean hails from Dublin, Ireland but what you may not realize is he’s moved to London. You can connect with Sean on LinkedIn or Twitter. Sean owns his own sales training and coaching company SPT (Sean Patrick Training), Ltd. I’m confident you’ll enjoy what Sean has to share this month.
Brian Ahearn, CMCT® Chief Influence Officer influencePEOPLE Helping You Learn to Hear “Yes”.Alex Ferguson: Persuasion Secrets of Managing Manchester United
In May 2013, Sir Alex Ferguson or SAF as he’s otherwise known as, stepped down as manager of Manchester United. He had just won his 13th Premiership title, the most successful and highly decorated manager in English football. This ended his 26th season in charge of one of the biggest sporting franchises in the world.During his time at Old Trafford he won 38 titles including two UEFA champions league trophies. Ferguson took control of the club at a time when player status was more important than winning titles, over the course of four seasons and under severe pressure to deliver, he transformed the club from the inside out. He employed countless talent scouts to find the best youth players at grassroots level and developed an academy that produced one of the most successful teams in English football history. Every season a major development was installed inside the club that cemented United’s ability to find and retain the best playing staff. Ferguson was well known for having his finger on the pulse in every area of the club. Only Matt Busby, a legendary former United manager had any such influence across the entire club. So how did he do it? Ferguson was well known for his ability to psychologically influence the players around him and rival managers. Ferguson believed that the key to success was to make sure that every player put in 100% during training. He never allowed a bad training session as this proved a player would find mediocrity acceptable, he knew bad habits form quickly. He ensured that every player who under-performed at half time became aware of their poor performances thus the legendary motivational skills reared itself in the dressing room.Former rival manager Jose Mourinho claimed Ferguson was the master of the ‘second game’, sing the media to motivate his team and to begin, as he put it, ‘to play the next game before it starts’.The club and everyone around him knew he was the authority figure. If a player tried to take over the dressing room or put in a poor performance he was either swiftly removed from the club or was given a severe face-to-face screaming which had become known as the hairdryer treatment. His authority was without question embedded into the organization. Over the course of his 26 season reign he made difficult choices and this came in the form of releasing established world class players such as Roy Keane, Jaap Stam and David Beckham to make room for untested younger players such as Wayne Rooney and Cristiano Ronaldo who became medal winners at United.There was another side to Ferguson, he was liked and respected. He was treated respectfully by senior management and back-room support staff and reciprocated respect by demonstrating fairness and his ability to empathize. These skills were tested during the season of 1995-96 when maverick player Eric Cantona attacked an opposition supporter Kung-Fu style and consequently given a heavy suspension lasting several months. Over the course of this period, Ferguson mentally coached Cantona, firstly to retain his services and secondly to mentally motivate and prepare the player for his return. Subsequently, Cantona blossomed to become a model player and became club captain helping United secure more silverware.This method of psychologically preparing and motivating players culminated in United’s first UEFA Champions league title in 1999. They faced a tough fixture against Germany’s Bayern Munich. At half-time United were trailing, he reminded his players that if they lost the match they would not as much be allowed to touch the trophy, just amble past at a safe distance wearing their losers medal. One of the players later recalled that Ferguson’s inspirational speech turned fearful men into world-beaters. During that same season, United became the first side from a major league to win the treble of Champions league, English Premier league and League cup in a single season.Ferguson understood the importance being consistent. One of his key skills in improving the preparedness of his players was his use of story telling and being to talk to each player individually. He liked to change the themes of his team talks with regularity. “I once heard a coach start with ‘this must be the 1000th team talk I’ve had with you’ and saw a player quickly respond with ‘and I’ve slept through half of them!’ If a player was to sit out a game, he gave a personal and very frank conversation that conveyed empathy and instilled confidence in the player.Ferguson emphasized on the use of instilling confidence on the training pitch. “There is no room for criticism on the training field’. ‘There is nothing better than hearing ‘well-done.” 
SeanCialdini “Influence” Series! Would you like to learn more about influence from the experts? Check out the Cialdini “Influence” Series featuring Cialdini Method Certified Trainers from around the world.
Flirting and Body Language
A team of psychologists at Webster University purport that flirting is more effective than a person’s attractiveness when trying to hook up. They suggest it is the individuals who signal availability and confidence via flirting not the most attractive person that gets the attention of interested on lookers.
Click here to view the embedded video.
The two most universal techniques are smiling and making eye contact. However, women can flip their hair or lick their lips to up their chances of snagging that guy and men can display social dominance such as positioning their body so that it takes up more space.
[011] Conclusion – Unmasking the Social Engineer
All in all, ‘Unmasking the Social Engineer’ seems too much like the addendum that could have been added in a reprint of ‘Social Engineering: The Art of Human Hacking’. That way, at least, it’d have been worth the cost, as it is as expensive as its older brother, but not quite as valuable. Was it worth it to me personally? Yes. But, I’m a collector, an S.E. enthusiast, and have ample room in my budget.
To anyone who is interested in social engineering as an art or science – passing or otherwise? Not really. Does it fulfill its role as a protective tool against non-verbal communication? Again, not really. There’s just too much of an awkward balance between in-depth explanation and practical advice. It doesn’t feel specific and structured enough to be a blueprint, and not inclusive enough to be a handbook.
And, it’s not practical and demonstrative enough to be either of those. So, I’m left stranded as to who to recommend this to – because honestly, I’d much prefer to recommend Ekman’s work and explain its application in a much more condensed format.
This long list of sometimes seemingly insignificant complaints might give you the impression that I believe ‘Unmasking the Social Engineer’ is a bad book. It’s not.
It’s characteristically fun to read and well-written, well-researched and competently edited – I really do mean that. Hadnagy, Ekman and Kelly are all absolutely brilliant – geniuses in their respective professions. the former two have been my idols and examples for many years, and that isn’t without reason.
However, this amalgamation of awesome names and backgrounds does not hide the fact that ‘Unmasking the Social Engineer’ doesn’t really fit in anywhere, nor does it excuse it its faults. It is clear what it set out to do, and it it’s also clear what it became instead. Maybe it would fit as a quasi-handbook mostly read in preparation of Hadnagy’s consultation and auditing services, where he can demonstrate its application and answer questions and expand more thoroughly on raised topics in person. Otherwise, and to anyone with any time on their hands, there are plenty of better alternatives.
It is serviceable, but it does not stand well on its own – it simply doesn’t provide enough deeper understanding or contextualization to match Ekman’s books plus an evaluatory article or two and a list of exercises. Those will inevitably accomplish far more, and provide both beginning and advanced social engineers with a more complete, if not a more well-rounded experience.
And to be blunt, if he were to paraphrase and condense this book’s contents into a couple of rules to follow and a couple of exercises to practice, (e.g. ‘Always ask for ID and external authorization – no exceptions’), with a short seminar explaining the more fundamental ‘how’s’ and ‘why’s’, I think he’d end up providing the client companies’ personnel with both more practical and intuitive ways to defend themselves against Social Engineering attacks.
One good thing about reason I will share, is that it did provide a nice basis and motivation for comfortably reassessing the ways in which I’ve been putting Social Engineering into practice, and imagine possible new applications of the things listed in the book – an elaborate sequence of thought experiments, if you will. However, that occurs naturally with any piece of information, not just this book, so take from that what you will.
Over-all, I ended up finishing this book with the strong impression it was not worth my time, if only because I didn’t need this book in the same way that I needed ‘Social Engineering: The Art of Human Hacking‘ – it’s just not definitive, exhaustive and expansive enough. It doesn’t encapsulate enough for me to forget the fact that I already know what’s in here in vastly more detail.
Maybe I’m just not his audience anymore – but if so, neither is the rest of the /r/socialengineering community.
Still, I don’t regret buying this book. Why? Well, because there is no person out there responsible for the defining, refining and promoting of an entire discipline of applied psychology quite like Christopher Hadnagy is. He is a legend, a champion, and a sage of Social Engineering – and he deserves all due recognition and credit for it. Ultimately, though, my personal celebration and veneration of his person is not sufficient reason for you to spend money on this one book I am certain you won’t need.
With love,
– Joven
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