Before you step in…better test the water

Posted: August 10, 2012 | Categories: Leadership

Several years ago I was working for a company that prided itself in their positive and supportive culture.  One day I was asked by the company owner for my opinion on the new email marketing plan.  I responded by saying I had received two leads from the program.  Keeping in mind our commitment to continuous improvement, I also suggested that they may want to reduce the frequency a little, since I had two customers comment that they felt they had been “spammed”.  My comment was not welcome or appreciated.   Afterwards, my manager took me aside and said, in effect, “Don’t do that anymore”.  I followed his advice, and that was the beginning of my next chapter – becoming a certified coach and starting my own company.

In his book The Mind in the Making, James Harvey Robinson said, “We are incredibly heedless in the formation of our beliefs, but find ourselves filled with an illicit passion for them when anyone proposes to rob us of their championship”.

There is always room for improvement.  If we are going to make a constructive suggestion, we should heed Mr. Robinson’s words, and realize that a person’s pride is attached to an idea.  “Cushioning” is important.  Here is an example.  Using the above situation, I could say, “I wanted to give you some feedback about our new marketing program.  First of all, I like the graphics, and am pleased to announce that I already have two leads I have closed.  If I were to look at a way to make this marketing effort even better, I would re-evaluate the frequency of the emails we are sending out.  I say this because I did receive two comments from good customers.  They said they appreciated the follow up.  They would prefer that it be every two weeks instead of each week. “

If we position ourselves like this, we increase our chances of avoiding a defensive barrier emerging.  This strengthens our ability to influence.