Are you “winning” in what you are doing?
How do you know?
What does “winning” look like?
More importantly – what does winning “feel” like?
There are a multitude of measures we can use to determine our level of success. The ones we use will vary according to what we are involved in.
When it comes to dealing with people, even in this increasingly digitally connected age, there is still no substitute, in my view, for person to person contact to create the best results. To win.
Kim Wicksteed, Former CEO OF Saatchi and Saatchi NZ, Owner of Advice Ltd, says this when referring to his provincial and uncomplicated home base in Hawke’s Bay:
“I can talk to anyone anywhere in the world, have a connected meeting and it doesn’t cost a cent. But don’t rely on it. You need the human contact and meetings tend to be much more structured and productive when you travel to them knowing exactly what needs to be achieved.”
In the process of setting up some Sales Training recently I had a series of email exchanges followed by a couple of phone conversations. I decided that a four hour, no obligation, round trip to meet would help us figure it out. Lo and behold, after an hour and a half face to face we had sorted out what we agreed would work best. Face to face. We won!
You’re probably familiar with the term “six degrees of separation”. Mitch Joel – Author of “Six Pixels of Separation” says this:
“smaller, stronger groups are where influence lies. The brands that are winning, “true influence” , are winning ( as opposed to #winning) because they have people who are having real interactions with other real human beings and those interactions are truly meaningful. “
The digital world is remarkable and continues to dramatically influence the way in which we can communicate and do business. But there is also a continuing, and I believe growing, sense that in order to genuinely “win” we must interact in person.
Let me leave you with this quote from “How to Win Friends and Influence People – In the Digital Age”, a book I encourage you to read :
“So often we are content to simply plug others into our digital world and browse them like commodities until we are ready to engage in some sort of transaction. Such sentiment removes the nobility inherent in our shared humanity. It makes our relationships merely tools of transaction rather than transcendence”.
Look after your people skills – they’re important.
Win – as opposed to #win.
