The City of Influence / Stewart 46-50

52 Self-interest is the sole motivation of gladiators, and if they can't forecast a quick return on a relationship, they discard the relationship and move on. But what they don't understand is that every person has hidden influence they can't see.

When you begin to understand that everyone has hidden influence, there's a temptation to build a relationship simply to access it. Building relationship with this motivation is not a good idea, either, because you're still forecasting a return on your investment. People can sense that kind of thing and will instinctively distrust you.