Book Brief: Maximum Influence | CIO Insight

Book Brief: Maximum Influence

Written By
Paul B. Brown
Paul B. Brown
Aug 1, 2004
1 minute read

Maximum Influence: The 12 Universal Laws of Power Persuasion
By Kurt W. Mortensen
Amacom, June 2004
240 pages
$17.95

Consultant Mortensen, who boasts, “I love to fix people,” is out to give you more power. And if that involves having you make people feel obligated to you so they do what you want, or flattering them so that they will adopt your point of view, or representing what you have to offer as scarce so people will be more tempted to buy now, then that is the way you should go, he argues. (These techniques represent three of his 12 “laws.”) What he doesn’t offer among his dozen rules is how you can live with yourself. Most effective executives believe that manipulation as a management technique has gone the way of command and control—ideas that have outlived their usefulness.

More Short Takes:

CIO Insight Logo

CIO Insight offers thought leadership and best practices in the IT security and management industry while providing expert recommendations on software solutions for IT leaders. It is the trusted resource for security professionals who need to maintain regulatory compliance for their teams and organizations. CIO Insight is an ideal website for IT decision makers, systems integrators and administrators, and IT managers to stay informed about emerging technologies, software developments and trends in the IT security and management industry.

Property of TechnologyAdvice. © 2026 TechnologyAdvice. All Rights Reserved

Advertiser Disclosure: Some of the products that appear on this site are from companies from which TechnologyAdvice receives compensation. This compensation may impact how and where products appear on this site including, for example, the order in which they appear. TechnologyAdvice does not include all companies or all types of products available in the marketplace.