How to Win: The Argument, the Pitch, the Job, the Race

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Winning the Argument

The only way to get the best of an argument is to avoid it.

Dale Carnegie

Some lessons you learn the hard way. And, boy, did I learn the power of an unbeatable argument the hard way.

I was 25 years old and working for my first employer, a large American management consultancy. One day I happened to read an article in the Financial Times written by someone I'll call Geoff, the chairman of a small British firm of business psychologists. I thought the article – about the ways in which egotistical leaders could plunge their companies into chaos – was so stunningly insightful that I immediately wanted to work for this smaller firm.

I did what research I could on Geoff and his business and wrote a speculative letter to him. ...