Get Your Team and Customers Raving About You!

“The better you relate the more you will make.”

- Dan Brent Burt (1952– ) popular lecturer, author of several books on selling

I recently discovered I’m not 19 anymore. My old soccer club was holding a reunion five-a-side tournament and they were bringing back many of the past players – it’d been 10 years since I played. I soon remembered what it feels like to use muscles I’d lonnnggg forgotten about. An hour and a half later, I made a tackle and hurt my ankle quite badly. Game over.

I hobbled off to the hospital. There I received a pair of crutches and advice to stay off my foot till my next appointment. The next day I was to leave to speak at a conference in Whistler B.C., so the timing of my incident could have been better. The idea of navigating across the country on crutches wasn’t particularly appealing.

To my surprise, though, the trip was GREAT! Air Canada whisked me past the check-in line and arranged transportation to my gate in one of those neat little golf carts. Passengers offered to help with bags, people held doors open for me. At the conference people got me food from the buffet line, hotel staff ordered me ice-packs, and everyone along the way offered me a seat. An interesting bonus was the liquor many of the delegates tried to ply me with to dull the pain (I’m such a lightweight)!

Throughout my trip I was acknowledged and respected. DESPITE my discomfort, I felt super.

I think crutches are like babies and puppies: they help create an instant relatedness with others. Somehow they say it’s okay to let down our guard. The ”appropriate” everyday ways we relate to our roles of customer/supplier, boss/subordinate, stranger/stranger are temporarily forgotten and we simply connect as people.

That connection is missing far too often today with our team and our customers. In fact, I think many of us are thirsting for it. And when that connection happens, people take notice. How would you feel if people sincerely inquired about you, genuinely offered help, or even… continued great conversations with you in crowded elevators?

You don’t need crutches to do it.

Coaching Fieldwork:

I’ve long believed that our impact as people and leaders is a function of the relationships we have around us. Building those connections with our team, our customers or even our families doesn’t have to be a big deal or take massive effort. It can be found in the simple things.

Our biggest obstacle is often how we view our relationships or the situation. In the story above, the crutches gave people permission to reach out. I felt great as a result of it.

If you’re looking to increase your impact, there are some other ways to view the world (without the crutches) you might find useful below. Read one. Bring to mind a situation that’s relevant, then read it again and ask yourself:

1. If I adopted this, how would it change the way I’m responding to the situation?

2. How might my new behaviour, change the way others respond to me?

Here are the views.

• Your boss/subordinate is actually doing the best they possibly can with the information and skills they have in the moment.

• We all appreciate support in some form even though many don’t ask for it.

• Prospects you meet are actually old friends you haven’t seen in ages.

• The world is a friendly place (not a hostile one).

Try one on for a week and see what happens.

By Jamie Broughton of Footprint Leadership. If you're ready to build a stellar business and career without working harder than you already are, get your complimentary Leadership Springboard Workbook and tips now at www.footprintleadership.com

Get Your Team and Customers Raving About You! - To learn more about this author, visit Jamie Broughton's Website.

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