Getting What We Want…..

We want to achieve our goals—make quota, get the bonus, get the promotion, get the recognition.

We want people to act/behave in a certain way.

We want to work for a certain company or in a certain role.

We want customers to respond to our outreach, to buy our products.

The problem with getting what we want is that we are usually dependent on those we work with getting what they want/need.

We can’t get the order until the customer determines they must change, they must do things differently. The toughest part of buying is not solutions selection, but it’s committing to the change, aligning the buying team around what needs to get done and how to do this, gaining the support of the organization and management. Becoming comfortable that they are doing the right things in the right way. Then choosing a solution.

We can’t get what we want until the customer gets what they want/need.

Likewise, if we are managers, we want our people to do certain things. While we might have some short term success, telling people what to do, that never succeeds. People resent it, they don’t do things as we want, so we have to do more and more, then it fails. We don’t get what we want from our people until they understand how to more effectively get what they want. (And then we follow the chain to our customers.

We get what we want, when the people we want to do things get what they want.

Perhaps we are more successful in getting what we want, when we help those we depend on get what they want.

Afterword: Inspired by a great post from Seth Godin.