Tag: relationships

Master emotions

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To be a good leader, you need to master emotions. Yours and others.

Yours, because you need to be in touch with them, be aware of them, be labelling them. And yet, you need not to be too attached to them. For example, when making decisions. In a way, you need to manage your emotions with some sort of detachment.

Others, because you need to be able to appreciate them and embrace them. You need to allocate time for others to express them, you need to be able to take them into consideration, and you need to be able to give the chance to release them.

Most leaders ignore emotions completely.

Some master theirs or others.

Few master both.

Get satisfaction

FabrizioLeave a comment

When we are close to something, it’s difficult to notice progress.

Just as you can’t see your kids grow day after day, it’s difficult to see your career develop, your relationship evolve, your project build the right momentum, when you are so involved.

Take a broader look, take an outside look if at all possible. Consider a longer time frame, list down all the achievements, own your own narrative, master the capacity to frame what you see today in a wider picture.

That’s the key to satisfaction.

More than

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Customer service is more than answering customers’ questions and complaints.

A community of users is more than setting up a forum where they can communicate with each other.

Customer focus is more than interviewing your customers on a regular basis.

Customer experience is more than asking customers how likely they are to recommend your brand.

And yet, that’s where most companies stop.

Definition

FabrizioLeave a comment

The longer you can be without defining a situation, a person, a thought, an outcome, the more you can enjoy the moment.

When you define you draw boundaries. You set differences between what is good and what is bad. You start aiming for something different while at the same time clinging to the desire that the definition will always be valid. You build, for yourself and others, a world that is much smaller than its potential.

Defining is natural, it’s an attempt to take control of the unknown.

And the longer you can be without it, the more chances you will have.

Because you care

FabrizioLeave a comment

Sometimes you listen because you want to know. Sometimes you listen because you care.

It might seem like a minor distinction, but the questions, the attitude, the subjects are very different whether it’s one form of listening or the other.

When you listen because you want to know, your questions are direct and closed. You look for easy answers, answers you can process and understand instantly. It’s usually about trivial topics, and the act of listening is in fact a way to reassure yourself that everything is as it should be.

When you listen because you care, your questions are wide and open. You are not even looking for answers. If they come, they will probably impact the person giving them much more than they impact you. It’s usually about deep change, and the act of listening is a way to unlock new potential.