The Workplace Tips I Wish I'd Known From the Start
I've been working for well over 20 years, and sometimes I wish I could go back to my younger self and share some hard-won wisdom about how to communicate effectively. How convenient it would be to whisper in my young ear the knowledge that would save a lot of mistakes, angst and frustration. The only problem is, I wouldn't have any of my knowledge without regularly, and sometimes spectacularly, failing in the first place. I had to mess up and age in order to fully grasp the lessons in the first place.
While I can't travel in a time machine to share what I wish I'd known about communicating with my younger self, I can share them with you. Here are just four of the lessons I have learned the hard way. (There are far more than four, but this is a blog post, not a novel.)
1. What I wish I had known about making a case: It's not about me; it's about them. Every time I find a message under-performing, a product faltering or a partnership flailing, it's inevitably because the work being done does not resonate with the audience's priorities, values and perspective. I have to remember to channel my energy into understanding my audience above myself and speaking to their concerns rather than my own.
2. What I wish I'd known about persuasion: Feeling first, facts later. There are no exceptions to the rule that we must awaken the heart to arouse the mind. We have to move people emotionally before they will take in information — or act. Numbers have their place, but nothing beats a good story that makes them come alive. I have to speak to the soul so the facts have a fighting chance.
3. What I wish I had known about the message: The messenger matters. I can have a stellar message, but if I've got the wrong messenger, it won't matter. We're in an era where faith in traditional spokespeople and marketers is at a historic low, so people are turning to trusted friends, family, independent authorities and peers for their recommendations. That means I'm often best off with messengers other than myself who are promoting my agenda.
4. What I wish I had known about perspective: Be generous when you're hungry. Some of the best advice I ever heard was from business and leadership guru Seth Godin, who said: "It's difficult to be generous when you're hungry. Yet being generous keeps you from going hungry. Hence the conflict." When you are solely focused on extracting something from others - instead on what you give them - you get in trouble. It's not what I need; it's what value I provide. Caring about delivering for colleagues and customers creates prosperity. When communicating, own the great space of what you give rather than the tiny territory of what you need. The former is a much more fertile place to make a business and a life.
What would you add to this list?
Photo: A wise old owl? Not yet. Image via WeHeartIt.
Turn On Your Heart Light, Let It Shine Wherever You Go!
8 年I love the image of the sagacious old owl at the start of this article. We are at a point in our fast-paced materialisric society where the value of time tested wisdom is sometimes ignored, berated and discounted in lieu of All That is New and Fresh. Progress and technological innovations seem to reinforce this fallacy by the second. Result? The Mis-Empowerment of the Unfledged Leader. Their clout is their birth date. The new ticket to rule the masses. Because they now represent that envied and coveted market share in a money driven world with a focus on the bottom line. Whether or not they want it, power is foisted upon those with little or no foundational support, other than what they extract from global social media outlets, crazed YouTube videos from every mouthpiece out there with an opinion they absolutely must share, the latest from the various buzz feeds and youth-focused blogs that have the power to sway public opinion in a not always positive way. They become the bastions of public perception driven by a narcissistic compulsion to be at the center of it all with a guaranteed captured audience of followers desperate for direction. Because a long time ago they put down those worn out time tested hard covers in exchange for easier to handle electronic devices that do all the thinking for them. The seemingly effortless road to success. At what cost? Oh, that's right. The benefits of convenience and leisure outweigh any of those annoying long-term costs. Its a Live for Today world and they are milking it big time.
Student at Hams Technology and Management Institute
10 年What can I say? Life is led forward but understood backward
self employed, with Lions Clubs international
10 年excellent picture
Sales Director for Tive Inc (Africa) business development.
10 年Spot on and an excellent lesson. To work is a privilege where we need to deposit things like kindness, keeping promises, honouring expectations, and being humble in order to create prosperity for all (your point 4). Even if you in a situation of power we still not the most important person on earth and will never be. With reference to your first point "It is not about me; it's about them". Great words of wisdom! We all co-exist because of partnerships where we should create wealth and wisdom wisely. We should not believe we are these clever dude's praising our self of all our achievements and wonderful things. Rather judge our character high - something we all need to protect at all costs. In this way we will protect our integrity, earn respect from colleagues and other people as well as build trust. Communication - Think before you act: The tongue and the pen can create havoc. People via email and social media do no sit back and think about the consequences of their words. They just write and hit the send button. One of our famous Afrikaans writers, C.J. Langenhoven once said, and I will translate and adapt from Afrikaans to English: "Once you have written a letter (or email) to some one, read through it 7 times, make peace with it and then decide if you still want to say the same or send it at all." Once it is on paper or you have said it in public you cannot deny or walk away. Promise you will get reaction which will have an impact on your feelings and behaviour - all like hood an unproductive energy tapper. When you have something good to say about someone splash it but when it is a sensitive issue do not say it through someone else. Do not judge people, be a coward and afraid - you get what you give to the world. PS The world/work/school etc can come to you or you can come to the world/work/school!
Member of Technical Staff at FixStream, Inc
10 年:)