Oviya Ravi Week 10; Becoming a Master Manipulator
Since I was a kid, I have always been very close with my sister. She is caring and kind but she also has some slightly questionable ambitions. She wants to learn how to manipulate people. Now, that sounds like she’s a bad person but she really isn't. She has just learned that being successful requires a little manipulation.
I came across a Forbes article titled “Understanding How Good Leadership Requires Great Manipulation” that discusses how manipulation, at its core, is “the use of emotions to get another person or group to act as desired by the manipulator.” Manipulation has been given a bad rep. In reality, it is simply convincing others to assist you in achieving your goal. Forbes talks about how teams are more successful if they share a vision that both leaders and team members feel passionate about; leaders must communicate the vision in a way that will “make clear how their team will be more emotionally successful when the vision has been reached.”
Manipulation does not have to negatively affect the person being manipulated; that is where the line is drawn between positive and negative manipulation. As soon as manipulation stops encouraging a symbiotic benefit between the two or more involved parties, it lives up to the bad reputation it has gained over time. Manipulation should be used to convince someone that a certain goal will benefit them as well. It is not effective to know in your heart that your plan will work if you lack the ability to communicate that confidence to someone else.
At the end of the day, the idea of manipulation is a tricky subject. There is a very faint line where it goes from being useful to extremely coercive and abusive. It is important to recognize that manipulation as a positive social tool can be extremely effective to communicate one’s ideas. The ability to manipulate allows for the ability to take control of a situation. It allows for the ability to get things done efficiently without pushback. It allows for one to gain respect because of the authority being communicated. In order to be successful, we need to know how to market ourselves and our ideas because if we do not advocate for ourselves in the interest of achieving our goals, there is no one else who will do it for us.
Hi Oviya, I found your blog topic this week to be quite intriguing. I've always been rather interested on the topic of manipulation, specifically when I did my second semester final presentation for English 9 Honors about cults, I learned a lot about manipulation. I would hear stories about MIT grads and Wall Street analysts, or some other array of extremely gifted individuals dropping everything to follow some blue-eyed Joe I refused to believe it. It doesn't make sense, till I found a particularly profound article that said manipulation is most effective when the victim and the abuser, or in your blog's instance a team member and their leader, connect on an emotional level. Infatuation, or simply enjoying someone's company has nothing to do with them, it relates to your appeals. Simply speaking, you like who you like because they reflect something you like in yourself. Which got me thinking when I read your blog, I enjoyed your novel perspective on manipulation and I can agree it is an excellent motivator, but the line between abusive and beneficial manipulation is one that should be identified, a topic I hope you cover in another blog maybe next week. Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteHi Oviya! This is an extremely fresh take on manipulation, since I do have to admit that whenever I think of manipulation, I always associate it with something negative. However, positive manipulation is just a way of being resourceful and can have a deeming impact.
ReplyDeletePositive manipulation is all around us, even if we don't realize it. As you said, manipulation can allow someone to convince someone or to take control. I feel like it can even be as simple as using vivid language in a persuasive manner to get one’s point across and convince the other party. This reminds me of the movie, Harry Potter (I forgot which specific movie), when Harry seemingly poured a vile of “liquid luck” (a potion which gives someone luck for the day) into Ron’s drink in front of Ron and even fooled Hermione, but actually only pretended that he did. This is an example of positive manipulation, since it wasn’t negatively affecting Ron; it was an action to help him build his confidence.
Again, as you mentioned, manipulation is a very thin line that should be taught more and be more present in society. It is both positive and negative, honestly, like anything else, and when used wisely, it can definitely be a strong benefit.
Hi Oviya! Your take on manipulation is quite new and fascinating for me. It is really interesting when a leader persuades their team to be better and a villain exploiting someone for their own gain being from the same umbrella of manipulation. The faint line that you mentioned is where people must be most aware. Like you said, manipulation could be extremely useful or abusive and it is important to know which it is. Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteManipulation is really a neutral word, if you think about it. Emotions aren’t the only thing that can be manipulated; so too can clay, for example, or a piece of paper. We manipulate our own bodies to behave according to our wishes, and our pens and fingers to string words together. I think manipulation is seen the way it is because we instinctively think of the worst case scenario—a Machiavellian schemer who takes advantage of others to achieve their own goals at any cost.
ReplyDeleteJust like it’s possible to manipulate clay to make a beautiful sculpture, it’s possible to manipulate people not to their detriment, but their benefit. Praise, for example, can be interpreted as “manipulation.” How awful to positively review someone’s behavior or accomplishments in an attempt to control their emotions! I think the line should be drawn when the person being “manipulated” is no longer benefiting. Selfishness should be the main pivoting point; when it’s selfish, it’s harmful, and then it’s unscrupulous.