Weekly Thought – August 21, 2018
Fred’s ability to assess people and situations enabled him to effectively consult with corporations, ministries, and family businesses. One of his great principles: “Everyone is logical if you understand their fundamental operating basis. Once you have identified this, their decisions make sense.”
BWFLI is moving quickly into the fall season for the What’s Next Roundtable. Teams are forming and preparations are being made by our fine schools. Please continue praying.
Clarifying Expectations
I walked into the office of one of my clients with whom I enjoyed a long time relationship. He was one of my favorite people. I reached over and took two pieces of scratch paper from the pad on his desk. I gave him one piece of paper and I told him, “Sam, write down on that paper the most significant contribution you want me to make to this organization. I will write down on my paper the most significant contribution I am trying to make.”
You have to have a pretty good understanding of a client to do this. Years of trust allow this kind of transparency. It is a very good exercise.
Do you know when we turned the face up they were almost diametrically opposite? The thing that I thought was the most important thing for me to do for him was opposite what he wanted me to do. What he was expecting wasn’t part of my plan at all.
He was a long time client, as well as a friend, yet we were operating with polar opposite expectations. Think of the implications of continuing with both of us going full steam ahead with such a lack of understanding. And I could imagine other clients, family members, business associates that I didn’t know as well. How often had I operated assuming I knew exactly what was expected only to find I was traveling in the wrong direction at 70 miles an hour. As I considered this, situations came to mind which were created simply by the failure to clarify expectations.
What is Sam and I had continued to operate with unspoken, but opposing expectations? How often does this occur without our knowledge? How often do business deals fall apart and nobody really knows why? Sadly, how many parent/child or husband/wife relationships falter because each is operating fully thinking they know what the other wants, but without clarifying before going ahead with decisions.
Clarity, not assumption, is the rule for successful relationships whether in business, community organizations, or personal connections.
This week think about: 1) Who needs me to clarify expectations? 2) How can I most effectively ascertain the assumptions of others? 3) What skills do I need to develop to best clarify relationships?
Words of Wisdom: “Clarity, not assumption, is the rule for successful relationships whether in business, community organizations, or personal connections.”
Wisdom from the Word: “He has filled him with the Spirit of God—with skill, with understanding, with knowledge, and in all kinds of work,” (Exodus 35:31 NET Bible)