A front page article in Saturday’s Washington Post starts very simply: “Paulson’s Powers of Persuasion Persuasion Tested.” As Secretary of the Treasury, a former executive at Goldman Sachs, Henry M Paulson Jr. has the credibility, the power, the authority to trigger the requisite emotional response from congress to his request for a $700 billion bailout package. Or does he?

Since credibility and authority are excellent emotional triggers, where did Paulson go wrong? Well, he blew his credibility. How? Two weeks ago he told congressional lawmakers he had no intention of bailing out Freddy Mac and Fannie Mae. A week later he did what he said he would not do. Credibility lost – Authority trigger questionable. The financial bailout delayed.

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You can have anything you want, yes, anything! All you have to do is to persuade someone to decide to do what you want. The most successful people in the world are those who can get things done with and through others. By applying new scientific breakthroughs, it’s now quick and easy to get “Yes!” decisions and actions.

Before persuading others to say “Yes!” let’s take a quick look at our own decision process. Only when we understand how the brain makes decisions can we successfully influence others’ decisions

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