The Thinking Behind The Tweet

Ben Franklin found people, even people who clearly disliked him, responded positively when he asked them for a favour. As one example, back in the day - almost 300 years ago, books were very rare in New England. Benjamin Franklin asked a political opponent [who had publicly criticized Ben] to lend him one of his prized books. The person loaned the book to Franklin, who read it quickly and thoroughly then returned it. After this experience, the opponent softened his attitude toward Franklin.

These Ben Franklin experiences led to what is now known as the Ben Frankin Effect. 

The Thinking Behind The Tweet

People who have a thorough understanding of themselves do better as business leaders. They understand their strengths and weaknesses; they understand their desires and goals, they understand their internal drivers and their behaviour; they understand their attitude toward and their reactions to situations and other people. 

And, according to Wikipedia...

The Ancient Greek aphorism "Know thyself" (Greek: γνῶθι σεαυτόν, transliterated: gnōthi seauton; also ... σαυτόν ... sauton with the ε contracted), is one of the Delphic maxims and was inscribed in the pronaos (forecourt) of the Temple of Apollo at Delphi according to the Greek periegetic (travelogue) writer Pausanias(10.24.1).^[1]

The maxim, or aphorism, "know thyself" has had a variety of meanings attributed to it in literature. The Suda, a 10th-century encyclopedia of Greek knowledge, says: "the proverb is applied to those whose boasts exceed what they are,"^[2] and that "know thyself" is a warning to pay no attention to the opinion of the multitude.^[3]

In Latin, the aphorism is generally given as nosce te ipsum^[4] or temet nosce.^[5]

The Thinking Behind The Tweet

Illustrations of mental prowess can put people off....especially when performed by braggarts and wiseacres.