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Gaining Trust From Global Leaders
By now most of you know that for the last 30 years I’ve been in the business space — starting, growing, consulting, and advising at every level from entrepreneurs with a startup idea, to Presidents or Governors on policy and program development for their local communities.
People always ask what I say to make sure the conversations stay real.
I have blogged about being called “the reality check in the room,” because you need to make sure you are speaking about what is happening on the ground.
Having taken time to reflect, several key phrases that help me build trust and bridges and allowed me to share ideas that might not have gone further without the use of this specific terminology. Before I suggest something, I might say:
- “You may have already thought about this…”
- “You may have already tried this…”
- “You probably have thought about something like this…”
These three phrases, I’ve used repeatedly that have allowed me to give the other person the benefit of the doubt — that they might have thought about it and whether it’s a good or bad idea, at least they may feel they own it.
With them owning the idea, I am then able to take it to the next level and push it further.
