Paul Newman said it best in "Cool Hand Luke." "What we have here is a failure to communicate."
I've got a burr under my saddle about the people who will never speak up or follow through with communication. If you are in a forum or meeting and don't utter a word....then leave and expound on all your thoughts and concerns to someone a) who wasn't even part of the discussion or b) can't do anything to influence the outcome, who have you served? Were you afraid of what people would think of you?
GUESS WHAT? We all have the wonder of what people think about our projects, ideas and suggestions. And, we'll never know if they never say! No news is not considered "good news!" No, not at all! If someone leaves you hanging and unanswered, no news is usually speculated upon as being anything but good.
Tell the truth, how much do you respect the business person who can't make the hard phone calls or decisions? Would you rather have someone kindly tell you that they've chosen another Realtor or simply have them fall off the map and then wait until you're blindsided when the "For Sale" sign goes up? Do you think it's kinder for a lover to have that hard talk about wanting to be "just friends" or for them to simply start avoiding your calls?
How about communication of thanks? When you go out of your way to gift or do a big favour for someone and they never even take 2 seconds to say thank you, the whole feel good part of the giving is short circuited.
Don't for one second EVER ASSUME that someone knows what you're thinking. We don't. If you won't communicate we assume you're not interested or that something is wrong. We don't jump to the conclusion that if you haven't answered an e-mail its because everything is running like clockwork.
For some its fear of exposure, for some its neglect or laziness, for some its not understanding how impactful they are but in all cases of poor communication it is just plain rude and a drag on someone, somewhere.
Recently I spent some time speaking with brothers about their father's estate. They genuinely were glad for my background research on their account and my expert opinion on pricing and strategy. I thought for sure I would get the listing, but they chose someone else. But, here's the beauty part....rather than leave me in the dark or feeling "used" they went to the effort of buying a bottle of wine and writing a very heartfelt thank you card to me and dropped it by my office. They wanted me to know how much they appreciated me and made a tough decision based on a connection that their late father had with another Realtor. In my heart, I wished them only the best. And, their communication was tremendously meaningful to me.
By refusing to be vulnerable enough to add our piece and risk censure we essentially are just showing up to the game with bat, ball and glove but choosing to sit on the sideline and hope others think we can play but leave it to them to play the game without us.
Steve Jobs said it best, "stay hungry, stay foolish." What you have to add is critical. Don't leave 'em hanging.
I've got a burr under my saddle about the people who will never speak up or follow through with communication. If you are in a forum or meeting and don't utter a word....then leave and expound on all your thoughts and concerns to someone a) who wasn't even part of the discussion or b) can't do anything to influence the outcome, who have you served? Were you afraid of what people would think of you?
GUESS WHAT? We all have the wonder of what people think about our projects, ideas and suggestions. And, we'll never know if they never say! No news is not considered "good news!" No, not at all! If someone leaves you hanging and unanswered, no news is usually speculated upon as being anything but good.
Tell the truth, how much do you respect the business person who can't make the hard phone calls or decisions? Would you rather have someone kindly tell you that they've chosen another Realtor or simply have them fall off the map and then wait until you're blindsided when the "For Sale" sign goes up? Do you think it's kinder for a lover to have that hard talk about wanting to be "just friends" or for them to simply start avoiding your calls?
How about communication of thanks? When you go out of your way to gift or do a big favour for someone and they never even take 2 seconds to say thank you, the whole feel good part of the giving is short circuited.
Don't for one second EVER ASSUME that someone knows what you're thinking. We don't. If you won't communicate we assume you're not interested or that something is wrong. We don't jump to the conclusion that if you haven't answered an e-mail its because everything is running like clockwork.
For some its fear of exposure, for some its neglect or laziness, for some its not understanding how impactful they are but in all cases of poor communication it is just plain rude and a drag on someone, somewhere.
Recently I spent some time speaking with brothers about their father's estate. They genuinely were glad for my background research on their account and my expert opinion on pricing and strategy. I thought for sure I would get the listing, but they chose someone else. But, here's the beauty part....rather than leave me in the dark or feeling "used" they went to the effort of buying a bottle of wine and writing a very heartfelt thank you card to me and dropped it by my office. They wanted me to know how much they appreciated me and made a tough decision based on a connection that their late father had with another Realtor. In my heart, I wished them only the best. And, their communication was tremendously meaningful to me.
By refusing to be vulnerable enough to add our piece and risk censure we essentially are just showing up to the game with bat, ball and glove but choosing to sit on the sideline and hope others think we can play but leave it to them to play the game without us.
Steve Jobs said it best, "stay hungry, stay foolish." What you have to add is critical. Don't leave 'em hanging.
2 comments:
Amen, Sistah!
Great Blog Beth!
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