Consulting to an Entrepreneur
Posted 07-07-2008 at 07:01 PM by cjbryan
I was speaking to a relatively succesful entrepreneur the other day . He had a frustration with his board and was a tad miffed that he hadn't been allowed to have his own way.
I suggested working throught the issue in a consultative way and was fairly smartly rebuffed as he didn't have the time to work like that and needed to act now!
This had me thinking, are these types of people different to the usual corporate types in that they primarily work on gut feel and instinct or is there something else I'm missing. What is the best way to encourage these guys to stop and look at something in a deeper fashion?
I suggested working throught the issue in a consultative way and was fairly smartly rebuffed as he didn't have the time to work like that and needed to act now!
This had me thinking, are these types of people different to the usual corporate types in that they primarily work on gut feel and instinct or is there something else I'm missing. What is the best way to encourage these guys to stop and look at something in a deeper fashion?
Total Comments 1
Comments
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When they say they don't have time to work like that and need to act now, I would ask them to think about the pressing issue and ask themselves just four simple questions:
What do I want to happen?
Is what I want happening if not why not?
What can I do to make it the way I want it to happen?
How will I know what I want to happen has happened?
These few questions usually set them thinking deeper.
Another way if they are adamant that they haven't the time to think about an issue deeper, I would say, Ok, I'd like to make a comment and ask just one question if that's ok with you? I'm just going to ask you to ask yourself this one question which you can think about and answer while you have a cup of coffee.
"You have just been told that the world is going to end in 2 hours, what would you do with these last two hours? "
This question takes them aback a little, but it does get them thinking.
At the end of the day it all depends upon the individual person's values on what is important to them. They need to take ownership and control of their own thinking and decisions.
This person indicated that he had a "frustration with his board and was a tad miffed that he hadn't been allowed to have his on way. He said he needed to act now! That would have been my cue to ask the first of the four questions above.
Suggesting that they work "through an issue in a consultative way" probably came come across as being "instructive" or "being told what to do" - or just another "board member". It didn't allow the individual to take ownership and control of his own decision making.
Hope the above helps and would appreciate your views on this.
Thanks.
Old SagePosted 02-08-2008 at 08:40 PM by Old Sage
