I was once invited to write a piece for a finance magazine on the common attributes of Australia’s richest. Of course there was not much that was common to these individuals but what was evident, besides their determination and not understanding the word ‘can’t’, was the fact that most of them could be charming. Notice that I used the word ‘could’. As a professional psychologist I was surprised by how quickly they sized me up, worked at my level and were pleasant and charming. So, in addition to all those aspects and attributes that go with success, they could quickly understand other people.

Since so many of the ‘richest’ share this competence it does suggest that to be successful is not only to know and challenge yourself but also to understand others.

In this, the final part of the text, we move from ourselves to others. It is trite, but right, that: ‘We get by with a little help from our friends.’

So here we explore some ways which will help. Being a psychologist I fall back on psychometrics, which is always helpful in this area, then we move on to rapport skills and conclude with body language. In mastering these skills you should be able to get on with 97.5% of people. (The other 2.5% is the estimated number of people who unfortunately are chronically ill in ways which severely impoverish their life skills.)