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how to woo in the crowd?

WOO –> Winning Others Over, is one of the most critical success factors for every dreamer doer in the crowd! We may have a great idea and still be stuck in the middle of no where! How do they do it?

Simple – They sell their idea effectively – one at a time to everyone in their organization! People call this Strategic Persuasion – Inducement to act by reasoning or entreaty – urgent need.

Interestingly, dreams are personal beliefs or judgment that is not founded on proof or certainty. So, to realize them it is important to bring relevance of results to all those who get impacted or required to be involved! Wise men term this as an art! But, art is just a superior skill that one can learn by study and practice and observation! So, anyone interested can acquire this with investment of appropriate time, energy and effort!

As G. Richard Shell and Mario Moussa say:

“Your projects, programs and career turn on the difference between "no" and "yes." Yet selling ideas – especially the kinds of ideas that make organizations work – is a skill shrouded in mystery. Part emotional intelligence, part politics, part rhetoric and part psychology, selling ideas is not tricking someone out of their money. It’s about helping others to see things your way – engaging their minds and imaginations. Winning them over.”

In the crowd – being part of an organization, how to woo?

Training helps – Our own Internal Sales Training will be of great help to learn what it takes to sell and how? Couple this with Persuasion and communication skills modules for better results. Practice to perfect!

Additionally, here is a simple list of thumb rules picked up by meeting, discussing and observing great dreamer doers in the crowd – Check out, Use, Add/Modify with your own learning and share as appropriate – to create more dreamer doers!

  1. Do the home work – Validate the idea in the context of the organization, preferably the urgent need in front! – Bring Relevance!
  2. Create a clear, concise and compelling articulation of the idea – supported by any adjacent info, data, opinions of acclaimed authority/agency – Bring Relevance!
  3. Share this idea with the mentor, preferably another dreamer doer. Seek feedback and bring more relevance! – This is the first sale! If you can sell it to your mentor, you can sell it to anyone!
  4. Share the modified articulation with your immediate supervisor – Seek feedback and bring more relevance! – This is your second sale – Identify key stake holders along with your supervisor. (If your supervisor is the mentor, you save this effort!)
  5. Take the modified articulation to key stake holders, preferably along with or through your supervisor and or mentor! – Seek feedback and bring more relevance. – This is your third sale!
  6. Continue till everyone is sold!– those who might get impacted or need to be involved are covered! If you have made top three sales successfully, there will definitely be a team to help you sell this idea to larger crowd!
  7. Be ready for Rejection, Refusal, and no – response situations all along the process. Seek feedback and bring relevance in each step, go back with more relevance – till everyone is sold on the idea! or the idea itself becomes solid – Relevant!
  8. Participate – Be ready to walk-the-mile required to realize the idea – as a leader, member and/or an observer. Ideas just proposed – without a desire and drive to realize will generally fade, loose momentum or get dropped without a valid reason. Beware – this will hurt badly in the next run!
  9. Take pride in the sale – not credit for the idea – once it is sold! – Bring Relevance to your idea and yourself in the journey!
  10. Logically close the deal – archive the data, results and next steps. Share as appropriate to enable other dreamer doers.

So, what matters is – Relevance of idea and first three sales! – more so a systematic approach! Rest will follow through the process of progressive elaboration and narrowing of scope driven by passion! Three successful journeys will gift you a pride of mastering this art!

Never stop midway, Go for it!

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purpose of an organization

Core purpose of any organization – is its fundamental reason for being! But what is it? How enduring should this be? Does it ever be fully achieved? Does everyone in an organization realize this? What is the take of dreamer doers when it comes to core purpose of the organization they build? This is a continuous quest as the subject itself!

Last week, there was an induction session for a set of budding entrepreneurs in an EDP program @ a management school in Bangalore. I had this standard question to all 35 participants – What’s the purpose of your venture? Answers, as usual flowed around – Create Wealth for self and others, make lots of money, be own boss, build own empire….

I think while money is important, there is something more to money which makes organizations, whatever they are. I remember the good old dialogue I had with my father. He was always busy building something or the other – business, school, society, bank, or buying things – auto, car, books, tailoring machine,…. all for someone!, with his own or borrowed money!! On top of this, he kept only an account of how much he owed to others – none other way! All he asked them was to be fair to their employees, fear god and help as many people as they can….

I was wondering why he does it this way. I asked him? We are not very rich, neither do we have a lot of assets to distribute, nor he was contesting an election! He always had a simple answer – my purpose in life is to help people have their lives!!!

It took me a long while to understand this perspective. Only after he passed away. For almost three years after he left us, there was one visitor or the other every day, with a bunch of gifts and a handful of cash to return for the favors he/she received from my father. It seems they all had kept accounts diligently and knew that he will not call them. Every time I pass by any of my father’s creations, the smile on the face of people who own/run them and the way they are leading their lives makes me proud… don’t know why.

Imagine a world where every organization has this core purpose of “helping people have their lives”!

Why not???

The base unit of an organization if defined as a family of two, this is true. Core purpose should be helping each other have their lives! Once this is deviated, it does not remain as a successful organization. Extend this to any organization – profit or not-for-profit. No one builds an organization beyond helping each other in the company have their lives – drive to make more money, drive to beat others, drive to lead the world and so on….. when added, compromises this view to an extent enough to create the clutter!

I guess it helps to relook at why we exist once in a while, at least….

Charity, mother of all virtues!

Charity, mother of all virtues.

[In the foreground, from left to right: a figure of Truth (holding a turtle dove), Temperance (mixing water with wine), Force (carrying a column), Charity (two embracing children holding a cross), Justice (holding a sword), Prudence (with a mirror and a snake), Concord (with a yoke). In the background, from left to right: two figures of Truth (with a anvil and a sun), Faith (holding a heart symbol), Hope (with an anchor), Wisdom (with a book), Victory (holding a laurel crown) and Peace (with two olive branches). In the centre, a personification of Virtue.]