One Strategy to Establish Instant Authority in Any Situation

Do you consider yourself a person who wants to walk into every room with the best of intentions?

Do you consider yourself a person who wants to walk into every room with the best of intentions?

And walk out making a win/win scenario for everyone involved?

Then, I recommend you try this strategy in your life.

Else you risk letting your opinions go unheard and untested for no real good reason.

But before I tell you exactly what this strategy is, let me first tell you what I’ve accomplished using this method.

Using This Strategy I Have Personally…

- Rose to one of the highest paid marketing positions in a $40 million dollar company digital publishing company in only 4 months…

- Added one tweak to the business that generated 400k more in revenue every single month…

- Was personally asked by the CEO to market his book, which after launch went on to be a top 10 New York Times Bestseller…

- Leveraged these successes to work at this same level of authority with universities in Silicon Valley, world-class filmmakers, and other New York Times bestselling authors.

Now, I’m not sharing all of this to brag, but instead to demonstrate that this strategy works when you commit to it 100%.

But it’s such an unconventional strategy that when most people hear about it, they immediately dismiss it as impractical. However, I am a living proof that it is highly effective and that it can be used to establish immediate authority in any room, market, niche, and situation. And I’m willing to share this secret.

The Strategy is Called Simply ‘The Chinese General’

While sitting in with one of my mentors in his personal Mastermind in Atlanta, GA, I asked him, “What is the most effective thing I can do to sell these courses and products I am creating?”

He replied saying, “You lack social proof. You just don’t have enough authority in the room. You’re too young. What you need is a Chinese General.”

“Huh?”

Then he explained this story…

There was a soldier of the lowest rank in the Emperor’s army in ancient China. On the battlefield, the soldier saw another soldier being struck down and before the final blow could be dealt, he leapt in to save this soldier. The man he just saved expressed his thanks and declared that he owed him a debt. Having witnessed the events, the Emperor decided to make an example of the first hero’s heroism and promoted him to the rank of captain in the army.

Realizing that saving the other soldier had elevated him in the eyes of the emperor, the new captain made a proposition to the man he saved. He told the man that he would make him his first-in-command if he teamed up with him, so they can rise in the ranks of the army together.

This flew in the face of what many soldiers thought about advancing their careers. Giving power to receive power was an absurd notion, but the man owed the soldier a debt and he agreed to partner up.

By having each other’s backs on the battlefield, they both survived far longer than they others. And by working in unison they were able to cover two political perspectives at once. The man who was made first-in-command was able to win political games and elevate his status off the battlefield, and in respect to his friend would then appoint his former captain for another position higher than what he held.

By working together this way, as a single unit, they would continually elevate one another. As one man would gain a higher position, he would use his newfound power to elevate the second man. Until, they both reached the rank of generals.

As a team they were able to both rise to the highest ranks of power.

By sacrificing their egos, they were able to accomplish far more together, than they would have alone.

How the Chinese General Strategy Works in Modern Times

After reading the story of The Chinese General you may be wondering about the list of accomplishments from the beginning of this article.

Of course, I did not accomplish those things alone. I accomplished them with a teammate who was at the same level as me. By teaming up together, we were given opportunities no single man would be trusted with.

By sharing the same opinion in any boardroom, we would quickly dominate the consensus, as others assumed the fact that we trusted enough was enough to trust us and our ideas.

Luckily for us, the ideas quickly worked out and things snowball out of control from there.

But most people don’t get this chance.

Most people in any work environment don’t have the chance to have their opinions heard, let alone tested.

The secret is this: to achieve authority in any situation you must be willing to sacrifice your personal ego.

Ditch your desire to achieve individually, and with the right partner, you can achieve far more than you dreamed of as a team.

In fact, investors will rarely invest their money into a company with only one founder. Because the weight of entrepreneurship is often too heavy for one person to bear and most individuals break before the venture is successful.

Other Ways This Strategy Can Work for You

You can use The Chinese General Strategy to:
- Rise quickly in an organization
- Develop a reputation as an author
- Become an expert in any niche
- Negotiate and close large business deals
- And much, much more…

The key to this strategy is being willing to help someone else rise quickly in ranks with you. Helping them develop their reputation and simultaneously become an expert with you. Having them sit in the room discussing the terms on that negotiation with you. All built upon a foundation of trust. Without ego.

If you focus on the results you want to achieve, more than on how they are done, or who they are done by — you can achieve far more than you ever thought possible for yourself.

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Colton Swabb is a writer, entrepreneur and a teacher at The Accelerator. Want more articles like this? Sign up for his free trainings and learn more essential skills for becoming your own patron.