This reminds me of one of my favorite rules from Stephen Covey: Seek First to Understand [1]
According to Covey (and I paraphrase), good conversations begin when one party makes a real effort to understand the other. This generally triggers a similar reaction on the part of the other person. It seems like a small change in conversational style but what happens as a result is revolutionary.
Alex says: people will "want to help you win". In my experience this seems to be the case. It's also just a more pleasant way live.
Check this out: Helping others makes you happier. Five steps to doing it right: http://bit.ly/17cPhDe
Possibly, but maybe not...
http://acawiki.org/The_strength_of_weak_ties
http://sociology.stanford.edu/people/mgranovetter/documents/...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interpersonal_ties#Weak_tie_hyp...