“It’s not the will to win that matters — everyone has that. It’s the will to prepare to win that matters.”
– Paul “Bear” Bryant, legendary college football coach (1913-1983)
Today, it’s not ok not to know. Don’t believe me? Believe Seth Godin, from his October 9th blog post. (A good life guide, by the way, is to “believe Seth Godin…” but I digress. He’s not always right, he’s just almost always right….but I digress again…)
Where was I? Ah, yes! Changing the Conversation. Perspectives v. Facts.
The key to Perspective-Led Conversations is preparation. We ought to know and understand — before we go in. Today we can, too. On November 1st, a sales guy I know told me that a big deal he was working was held up because the customer was waiting for the election, hoping Mitt would win. A quick check (and I mean less than 2 minutes!) showed that the customer had donated to Obama’s campaign, that his wife had also donated to Obama’s campaign and that he’d posted half a dozen “Pro-Obama” messages on Facebook.
The sales guy didn’t have the will to prepare to win. So, what does it take to have the will to prepare to win?
It will require us to dig in to the other person’s wiring, their experiences, their circumstances, and, most importantly (and maybe not until we actually engage) their expectations. The good news is, it’s easier than ever before to find out. The bad news is, it will take time and commitment, and persistence — the key verb in this paragraph is “dig.”
That’s more work than just “winging it.” It takes more time than just showing up.
Just showing up will not make a difference. Preparation will.
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