tigers dark blue and white hats

tigers dark blue and white hats -

Many of us start in completely the wrong place, focusing on our end of the equation: Thinking about being assertive, getting what we want, putting our point across, having impact, persuading people, winning the argument, and so on. When we need to influence people in organizations, none of these one-sided approaches is the answer. More assertiveness, persuasion, logic, impact, and influence aren't going to solve the problem. We're looking in the wrong place. Putting it bluntly, we need to back off.

Now, there's an understandable tendency to equate influencing others in organizations with selling to customers. We talk about "selling ideas" and borrow learning from the extensive resources in the very important area of sales, tigers dark blue and white hats thinking that it translates quite easily. That's dangerous because it doesn't.

There's a tigers dark blue and white hats better approach...

We need to shift our focus away from what we want to put across and toward what matters for the other person. (Of course, the most effective salespeople do that as well, but it may not be the first thought of the professional person seeking to persuade others of their point tigers dark blue and white hats of view.)