My new book ‘Listening without Agenda’ is now available for pre-sale! I have been working with Manuscripts Publishing for the last 6 months, and the revisions editor just handed me A PILE of notes. To provide more context and understanding of the exercises contained in my book, I am adding even more personal stories and anecdotes from my life and experiences to help tell this story. To say this has been a whirlwind process is an understatement. It has been both extremely satisfying and horrifyingly scary. And there is the underlying fear of ‘what if people just don’t care?’ It feels highly vulnerable to be sharing my life’s work with all of you. However, I know this is part of the process. Let’s see how it resonates. I will be releasing the Introduction and some early chapters soon to get feedback. Please tell me if you would like to be a part of the group to help me shape this beast. SIGN UP HERE - andrew-mcmasters.presale.manuscripts.com/registration/select
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Many years ago I had a chance to tour Newgrange in Ireland. If you don't know about it, Newgrange, is a 5,200 year old passage tomb located in the Boyne Valley. Above the entrance to the passage there is an opening which allows sunlight to penetrate the chamber for 17 minutes at 9am on only ONE day of the year, Dec 21st, the winter solstice. The accuracy this time-telling device is remarkable when you considers that it was built 500 years before the Great Pyramids and more than 1,000 years before Stonehenge. For me - it is always a reminder of new beginnings. The year is over, and starting again. Like New Year's day. Fresh beginnings. From Dec 21st on, the days get longer. The sunshine lasts a little more (which is Seattle is a necessary thing...) It's also a great reminder of letting go of past mistakes. That workout program didn't stick last year? Try a new one! That business venture failed? What's next? It's all cyclical - and it all starts over again. My friend Armaund in DC has a Solstice party every year where people can write notes about things from the past year, they put it in a ball, light it on fire and roll it down a hill. (it's more like a ramp in his backyard...) The idea is still sound. It's time to release those things and start over again. So what will you light on fire today? Happy Solstice. My dog loves his patterns. Breakfast time. Post-breakfast snuggle. Go outside. Sit while my parents have coffee and tea. Go on a walk. Come back and relax. Play with the ball. Go on a second walk. Dinner. Get on the couch for a few minutes. Go to bed. It’s all very regimented, and specific. And it needs to happen at the same time every day, otherwise he gets visibly distressed. Have you ever worked with someone who is like this? Very set in their patterns, and gets ruffled when the patterns change in any way, shape or form? It is always difficult adapting to change. And yet changes are constantly happening. How we continue to provide people with the tools to accept change, and work with change the goal. #adaptiveleadership #flexibility #resiliency #improv #improvmindset I love my dog dearly. And I know how to work with him. It’s a good learning lesson for me. A lesson I learned running my non profit: many orgs operate under the idea of ‘if we HAVE these resources, then we will DO these things and we will BE this type of org.’ What I always prescribed to was, well, the opposite: who do I want to BE - be that. What do I want to DO - do that. And the HAVE (money, space, etc) will show up. It’s more about doing what is right, what you want to do — and not waiting to have everything perfectly set up before you start. In other words ‘if I HAVE these expensive running shoes, then I will DO the 5k, and I will BE fit and healthy.’ Or you can start running now with whatever shoes you have and BE a runner and get healthy and then get the shoes later. BE, DO, HAVE. The past two years have created a lot of isolation and distance. It has also brought many people together, in ways that would have been previously unimaginable. My last workshop for a client had participants in Singapore, London, Johannesburg, Mexico City and all over the United States. I've adjusted to waking up at all different hours to accommodate all different time zones. As much as we have been at home, adjusting to virtual work and figuring out how to look good on Zoom while in sweat pants and slippers, we've had the opportunity to connect with people in places all over the world. I can now count these people as friends. I get to hear how their lives and situations have been in upheaval due to COVID, and they get to hear about what is happening here in the US. They have expanded my understanding and knowledge of our connected human experience in ways I would have never imagined. We share stories of our lives, families, joys, sorrows and recipes. We have all lost something in our lives from this pandemic. Let's also look at what we have gained: a global understanding, an international reach, and new friends. For this, I am grateful. Happy New Year everyone. I hope to see you all face-to-face soon. I just came back from my first in person workshop since February 2020. I had no idea what to expect in this new world: would people be shell shocked from being isolated, would they be closed off and protective, would they be willing to open up and be available? Within the first few minutes of the workshop I realized something magical was happening. Everyone was craving the personal attention. They needed social interaction. They missed the company of people. The camaraderie. The friendship, The companionship. As we begin the slow crawl out of covid hibernation, what does your team/ company need? How essential is the need to connect, to share, to collaborate? I was not sure where people would be, or how they would react. I was amazed and overjoyed to see the desire and exuberance that this group had to be connected and see each other. Let’s embrace what we have gone thru. Let’s celebrate. And let’s gather. Safely. And let’s learn what communication is like in this new pandemic world. You might have heard of OMG or ROFL. Well, here’s a new acronym to help with your communications at work: LARO What does it stand for? Listen, Acknowledge, Reflect and Offer. When you are in a work meeting, and people are blocking the forward motion of the conversation by saying ‘yes, but that will not work because of…’ or ‘we don’t have the resources for that…’ or ‘that’s a bad idea…’, they have lapsed into CRITICALthinking rather than staying in DIVERGENT thinking. CRITICAL thinking is about evaluating, DIVERGENT thinking is about problem solving and solutions. There is a time and place for both methods, however, shutting down creative problem solving at each turn is not a useful strategy. Try LARO to keep the conversation moving forward: - LISTEN to the objections that people are bringing up. - ACKNOWLEDGE they are bringing up a valid point. Critical thinking is necessary for strategic planning. - REFLECT back what you hear. This allows the person to know that you heard them, and understand what they are saying and feeling. - OFFER alternatives to move them into the possibility of problem solving. Use sentences like:
I recently spoke to an individual who is in charge of a company, and he mentioned to me an award they give out called the ‘First Penguin Award.’ The idea is - if you are a penguin on the edge of the iceberg, with all the other penguins standing with you, who is the first one to jump into the water and swim to land? What risks are lurking under the surface? Will they all just freeze waiting on the iceberg? No one wants to go first… because maybe the first penguin will get eaten. And if they do get eaten then the others know not to jump in. So all the penguins just stand on the iceberg looking at each other. Until one brave penguin steps up. They are the ‘first penguin’ to jump into the unknown. And they make it to land safely! The other penguins decide to follow! And everyone moves forward. Or, maybe they don't make it safely. And the other penguins now know they will get eaten if they jump in. Either way, someone had to take the first step... The leader I spoke to encourages his employees to be the ‘first penguin’. To jump. To try something scary. He especially rewards them if they fail. And he publicly acknowledges them for being brave enough to jump off the iceberg. By making failure something that is celebrated, his company culture encourages taking risks and trying innovative new ideas. How can you encourage taking risks in your organization? One way is to make it fun to fail. Employees can be more confident to experiment and try new things, knowing it is more important to try than to worry about failing. Give out your own 'first penguin' award. The winner gets to keep a stuffed penguin on their desk for a month. That is how you succeed and create an innovative / growth mindset for your company. To learn more about Innovation and Growth Mindset workshops, Contact Andrew for more info. A key lesson I learned in Improv was “make your scene partner look good.“ Sometimes that’s a hard lesson to learn, or to understand fully. Many organizations I have worked for had a Superman philosophy: "Without me, this whole place would collapse!" That idea doesn't allow space to make the rest of your team shine - instead it charges ahead with a 'take no prisoners' attitude. Understanding that it is generally not about you is an opportunity for growth. In a sustainable team culture, everyone focuses on:
These items are bigger than the individual. As a team member, you are a part of the larger machine. You have a role to play. You need to bring everything you can to the table, and accept and build on the things that other people bring to the table. Together you can build something bigger than any one individual can create on their own. You can build brilliance. Isn’t that the lesson you want your entire company to embrace? Email Andrew or more information on workshops and presentations. Thanks to Bruce Scheer - I have a podcast episode on iTunes right now!
Are you harnessing the power of Improv in your selling conversations? What??? In this episode of The Sales Conversation Podcast Andrew McMasters and I talk about the power of Improv in improving buyer and seller interactions. Specifically, Andrew highlights how to be a better listener, how to accept what the customer is offering, and then how to build upon their offerings. He then talks about how to bring your full self to a selling conversation. Key Takeaways: 🤜 Listen: Listen before you solve! Listen for connection. Listen to build relationships. Listen for understanding. Listen for context. Let the other person know they’ve been heard! 🤜 Yes, and...: The second someone hears “but,” they negate everything said before it. Using the word “and” can help keep the energy of the conversation moving forward. 🤜 Everything is an Offer: Whatever someone offers you, even an objection, is an offering. How do you accept it and work with it? Check out the episode "How to harness the power of improv in your selling conversations with Andrew McMasters” at 🎙The Sales Conversation Podcast Check out the episode "How to harness the power of improv in your selling conversations with Andrew McMasters at https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/the-sales-conversation-podcast/id1435033739 |
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