How To Get Invited Into The Decision-Maker Room
The clearer you are about who you are, how you can add value to someone, and how to make that easy for them to choose you, the more likely someone is going to say yes to the Future You.
It’s that simple.
The additional benefit to this type of thinking is that when someone does say, “Yes, let’s do something together.” they’re choosing you just the way you are.
Man or women, I don’t think it matters. We ALL want our own “Mark Darcy moment,” where someone says, “I like you, just the way you are.” And I’m not just talking about a rom-com romantic interest; I’m also talking about work colleagues, I’m talking about your boss, I’m talking (where appropriate) about your team.
Why? Because when they want to work with you “just the way you are” two things are true:
- They recognize your value and potential contribution to a project.
- They’re excited and curious about how you can collaborate in the future.
Do you know what happens? You get invited into the decision-making room. And you know what? Your title doesn’t matter. I’ve even seen situations where you didn’t even need to be an employee of the company.
Take a moment and test this idea. Let’s pretend for just a second that you had a strategically important project you needed to complete. You can invite anyone to help you, anyone. Who would you invite into your decision-making room?
- The people who’s value and potential could make a significant impact. They’re brilliant at what they do, and you need their expertise.
- The people you’re excited and curious to work with again. They come with the right attitude and are generous with their ideas. You know you’ll learn something from them.
Right? This is why the clearer you are about who you are, how you can add value to someone, and how to make that easy for them to choose you, the more likely someone is going to say yes to the Future You. The more likely you’re going to be invited into the room.
Yes. If you haven’t figured it out by now, helping people figure out how to explain “who you are, how you can add value to someone, and how to make that easy for them to choose you” is what I do for people. And the people I work with range from Biotech to Oil & Gas, from the Military to Ministers, from media to manufacturing, from university students to retirees, every gender and twelve countries and counting. The variety of people and variety of reasons people come to me is why I love what I do.
I get to show people why they are awesome for a living. Better yet, I get to show them how to tell other people. Tell them in a way that helps other people see how awesome they are too. The folks at Lego were right. Everything is awesome.
But maybe, just maybe, you don’t want to come to one of my live shows or work with me to figure this out for yourself. It’s all good.
Because some other people, people I know like coloring outside the lines, are sharing how they’ve done this for themselves. Reid Hoffman, the co-founder of LinkedIn (and a bunch of other minor accomplishments), shared his “Meet Reid,” claiming this was “everything you need to know about working with me!”. Reid not only clearly explains who he is etc. but additionally describes how to get the best from him. Taking almost a Me+You=Us approach to his simple list of ideas and packing them with tips to help you choose him.
I sent out Reid’s write up to a couple of people I regularly invite into my “strategic thinking room,” and the overwhelming consensus was:
- I would have a hard time writing this for myself.
- I could see how it would be useful to others.
- It would be great to have this when interviewing a potential candidate.
Here are a couple of other people that think we should share how we are and how to work with the Future You.
- First Round Review wrote about Jay Desai and his struggles with FOMU (Fear of messing up) and the resulting operating manual. Brilliant!
- Luc Levesque, Shopify’s VP Growth, shares his Leadership Blueprints Strategy. He even gives you a template to create your own.
- Reed Hasting’s new book No Rules Rules Netflix and the Culture of Reinvention, practically screams from every page about the individual’s value.
You are awesome. I’ll say it again. The only questions I’ll leave you with are:
- Do you know why you are?
- Have you told anyone else?
I’m off to dust more people with the Joanna Magic (why FYI, I’m awesome).
Until next time,
