High school. We all remember it. The anxieties. The drama. The cliques. The pain of being looked down on. Death by a thousand cuts.
Besides the endeavor to get an education (or a boyfriend or girlfriend), or the related athletic or artistic activities, the main thing many of us focused on in high school is “Do they like me?” What we wore, how we walked, how we talked, what we said or did, even what we ate, was all calculated in terms of how we would be looked at by other people.
Unfortunately, too often that type of thinking carries over into our adult lives, and can affect our sales or our business. In a sales conversation, if I’m thinking, “What will they think of me?”, I’ve already lost. Now my focus is on me instead of on serving the client. If I have a client that’s hired me to advise them, but they’re not taking the recommendations and not doing what they should, my wanting them to like me does not serve them. Because it allows them to keep doing the activities that get the wrong results.
For me to be an adult, a professional, I am no longer focused on “Will they like me?” Instead, I am doing what needs to be done and speaking what needs to be said, in a way that truly serves the other person. And everyone benefits.
Steve Johnsen is a marketing strategist, a business coach, and the Founder of Cloud Mountain Marketing. He is also the author of the Amazon #1 best-seller, 5 Easy Steps to Make Your Website Your #1 Employee.
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