If we let manipulation be so broad as to be "influence a choice", then communication itself is manipulation.

For example, a classic, stereotypical proposal with a dinner and a date beforehand is also just manipulating your significant other into viewing you more favorably temporarily to make it more likely they'll say yes. A neutral proposal would be treated as an everyday affair, occurring before they've really interacted with you that day, something that goes against the whole social construct of proposing at all.

Same goes for a job interview, why are you practicing and dressing better? If any of it is not part of how you intend to work at that place, its manipulation. Even body language can be manipulation.

While all of that is actually a completely valid definition of manipulation, that doesn't mean the proposal is bad, and the difference is intent. Benign manipulation, like a proposal, isn't considered "being manipulative", because being manipulative intends to trick or deceive in some way. If we edit the background details of this scene, like we give him a reason he'd like her over there so that he could benefit at her expense, then he's being manipulative, but he isn't doing so here. Even then, some kind of deception matters. If a corpo found a way to get a teammate a promotion somewhere else, and did so to benefit themselves, its not manipulation if they go "Hey, I got you the Klingon account, and while you're gone, I'm gonna manage your work here and get a promotion", that's just being upfront about it.