Body language was another piece of it. She had to emote confidence that everything was guaranteed to work out in her favor and that she was happy to wait as long as necessary for it to do so. Social dominance was key. No matter what their rank, they were lucky to be helping her. But the real trick was empathy. Being the agent of a massive bureaucracy was tough. The organization behind you gave you power, but it could also crush you for the smallest of mistakes. If you wanted folks to do something, you needed to offer them a path forward that appeared to minimize their chances of backlash from
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