Every two weeks I share lessons and tools from my work as a coach, host of mastermind groups and podcast conversations. Today I share some of my thoughts after my conversation with Arnout Visscher.
A good intake
A good doctor or physio will - before offering solutions - listen well to the symptoms the patient reports, do tests, and ask about the road already traveled.
So too, when on a sales call, should you listen well to your potential client.
Ask where it hurts, poke with insightful questions, and ask what they’ve already tried. Give back what you hear.
Deeper and deeper. Until the client tells you with delight that you understand.
The client might not know whether or not you can actually solve their problem.
But after such an intake they know you understand their problem and that you’ve cared to do so.
This gives you many trust-points.
Announcing the end
Want to remind yourself of why you’re in business?
Arnout told me about a fun exercise to do.
Write up the press release where you announce you’re winding down the company.
For whatever reason, you’re quitting.
What would you share about the history of your work?
And, crucially, what would the world miss when you’re gone?
It’s surprisingly powerful to do.
It brings you very close to the real reason you’re in business.
When we see ourselves as part of each other and nature, so many behaviours that are common now become unthinkable.
Thích Nhất Hạnh: “The best way to take care of the future is to take care of the present moment.”
Life is the accumulation of all the small moments in your life.
Doing these well is what leads to a good life.
And it’s also, how you do the little things is how you do everything.
“If you want to change the world, go home and love your family”
Be available for those close to you, pay attention to them, and take them seriously.
This will ripple back to you, and outward.
It’s how you put on “your oxygen mask first”.
And, it’s not favoring those close to you over others. But start with them.
It should come easier for you with them. And this way it becomes second nature and will become how you’re anywhere.
In your work, with strangers. So we learn to do so societally.
