“A truth that’s told with bad intent beats all the lies that you can invent.”
– William Blake (1757-1827), English visionary, poet and painter
If you mean “I won’t,” don’t say, “I can’t.”
There is a world of difference between the two. If your boss or your company won’t let you — say, “I don’t have the authority to…” but don’t say “I can’t.”
More often than not, we can, but we won’t.
If the person on the other end of the conversation knows you can, but you keep telling them you can’t, you’ve lost trust, and, maybe, the customer.
Yesterday, I was on the phone for 2+ hours with a vendor that I have had a 25 year trusted, awesome relationship with. They almost completely lost 25 years of goodwill because everyone I talked to said, “I can’t…” and they could, in fact. Why did it take over two hours to get someone who could, and did? Difference makers know the answer, and in the conversations they control or impact, they fix it before it gets ugly.
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