When we are leading, influencing, being called upon as trusted advisors or salespeople, the perspective we choose to take in a situation is fundamentally linked to our success or failure in that situation. Perspective tends to drive how we react instinctively, and our reactions drive our attitudes and our behaviors which then drive our outcomes.
For example, let’s say a prospect comes to me and tells me “I’ve just been told that my budget has been cut 30%.” I’m going to have an instinctive reaction in the moment I hear this news… and that reaction makes all the difference in how things turn out.
If the perspective I take in this situation could be characterized as “Damn. There goes a deal I was depending on.”, my attitude and my conversation with this person will be characterized by defeat and disappointment. The ensuing conversation will likely be short and awkward. The chain of events that led to that moment will likely come to an end.
However if my perspective in this situation is different… let’s say we could characterize it as “Wow! That makes your job really difficult! What are you going to do? How are you going to get your job done?”. If that was how we saw the news, the attitude and ensuing conversation will be dramatically different. The empathy and curiosity inherent to this new perspective will drive an open and honest conversation… and there exists the possibility in the aftermath of the bad news there may still be opportunities to do business together, however different, in order to help this person achieve their goal.
However, changing our instinctive reactions to bad news isn’t easy! In the video on this page I share what we are teaching the participants in our Trusted Advisor Workshop regarding how to change our instinctive reactions in real time. Let me know your thoughts!
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