Tuesday, September 06, 2011
Mindset
One of the most difficult concepts for my staff to grasp was to change their thinking in terms of "stopping bad behavior" in our clients.
"What's the problem?"
"Bob always talks to strangers."
"What's wrong with that?"
"He approaches everyone and tries to talk to them about all kinds of things... including his personal information."
"What's your plan?"
"Well, he needs to stop talking to strangers."
"But what does he need to do?"
"Like I said, he needs to stop talking to strangers."
"He should never talk to any stranger? Even someone who says 'good morning' to him first?"
"No, he needs to stop approaching strangers and offering his personal information."
"So what do you want him to do?"
"I want him to stop..."
"No, I mean what should he do instead?"
"He should stop..."
"No..."
"He should be able to identify people who want to talk to him before he starts talking to them. "And he should be able to limit his personal information that he shares."
"Cool. I think that's a great thing for Bob to work on. Let's write up a plan."
Have you seen this in your staff? It's like teaching clients skills that we take for granted. We take them for granted, so how do we think of them?
Our job is to think creatively and proactively. Easy? Heck no! That's why it's important to share all the information we can (Ooh! Ooh! he says excitedly, I have books about these subjects!).
It is easy to get into the mindset of stopping client behaviors. It's more difficult to think beyond that. Remember, behavior is almost always a form of communication. If I stop a behavior, how does the client tell me what he/she wants or doesn't want?
"What's the problem?"
"Bob always talks to strangers."
"What's wrong with that?"
"He approaches everyone and tries to talk to them about all kinds of things... including his personal information."
"What's your plan?"
"Well, he needs to stop talking to strangers."
"But what does he need to do?"
"Like I said, he needs to stop talking to strangers."
"He should never talk to any stranger? Even someone who says 'good morning' to him first?"
"No, he needs to stop approaching strangers and offering his personal information."
"So what do you want him to do?"
"I want him to stop..."
"No, I mean what should he do instead?"
"He should stop..."
"No..."
"He should be able to identify people who want to talk to him before he starts talking to them. "And he should be able to limit his personal information that he shares."
"Cool. I think that's a great thing for Bob to work on. Let's write up a plan."
Have you seen this in your staff? It's like teaching clients skills that we take for granted. We take them for granted, so how do we think of them?
Our job is to think creatively and proactively. Easy? Heck no! That's why it's important to share all the information we can (Ooh! Ooh! he says excitedly, I have books about these subjects!).
It is easy to get into the mindset of stopping client behaviors. It's more difficult to think beyond that. Remember, behavior is almost always a form of communication. If I stop a behavior, how does the client tell me what he/she wants or doesn't want?
