Give Highly Specific Advice to Generate Improvement

• 00:05 So we have identified every single strength that this colleague has in
• 00:09 a particular skill area you're focused on, and we spent a lot of time on that.
• 00:15 All that factual and true, that made them feel a little better about
• 00:19 the overall position they have there with their strengths.
• 00:22 Then you've isolated just one or two specific problems,
• 00:27 and you've tried to talk about it in as non-personal a way as possible.
• 00:34 So we can focus just on the thing they are doing or not doing.
• 00:39 That's the second step.
• 00:40 Now we move on to the third step.
• 00:42 We've got to give them very,
• 00:46 very specific advice on how to improve.
• 00:51 It may be self-evident to you.
• 00:53 It's obviously not self-evident to this person or they wouldn't be doing it.
• 00:57 It's not enough to say, stop being a jerk to that customer on the phone,
• 01:02 stop yelling at prospects.
• 01:05 You've got to give them more highly specific tips, strategies,
• 01:11 tactics on how to solve the problem, how to do it well.
• 01:15 So for example, back to my own situation with my clients,
• 01:20 if somebody has lots and lots of uhs and ums coming out.
• 01:25 I've talked to them about their strengths.
• 01:27 We've isolated the problem, and I say, now,
• 01:29 the good news is this is a simple problem to solve.
• 01:32 It's a very common problem.
• 01:34 I'm making them feel a little better, and this is true.
• 01:37 I've dealt with this problem with CEOs, with presidents of countries.
• 01:41 It's a common problem, it's easily solved.
• 01:44 Here's what we're going to do.
• 01:47 And if it's the word uhh that keeps coming out, I'd pull a sticker off and
• 01:52 I'd put it right on their watch, their cell phone that has the word uhh and
• 01:56 an international red no sign, no left hand turn, no parking, no uhh, no umm.
• 02:02 And I tell them, look, it's common problem.
• 02:05 I'm now giving you visual reminders not to say it.
• 02:08 So when you look at your watch, when you look at your cell phone, your tablet,
• 02:12 you're going to see this international red no sign with the word uhh in it.
• 02:17 After a day, you'll still say uhh but you'll have sort of this thing pop up,
• 02:22 almost like the Doh, Homer Simpson moment, where you are aware of saying it, but
• 02:26 you still say it.
• 02:28 After two or three days, your mouth and lips and
• 02:31 tongue start to form the sound of uhh and umm.
• 02:34 You almost catch it, but it still comes out.
• 02:37 But after a week, the image will come up, and you can simply pause.
• 02:44 You won't say it.
• 02:46 Now you'll come across more comfortable, confident, and relaxed.
• 02:51 And this really does work, folks.
• 02:54 Just saying that often relaxes people to the point where the very
• 02:58 next presentation they give, five minutes later, the problem melts away.
• 03:02 But even if it doesn't, I have a solution that solves the problem, and
• 03:07 it does work in a week.
• 03:08 Now, not every problem is quite that neat and tidy.
• 03:14 But the more you can break it down and give people really,
• 03:18 really specific actionable things to do,
• 03:21 you're going to make them feel better, and there's going to at least be help.
• 03:27 So if you find an employee who is simply rude to prospects
• 03:32 calling on the phone, say, look, I realized people are rude.
• 03:38 The public can be rude sometimes.
• 03:40 Here's one step I want you to try to take.
• 03:44 When someone is yelling at you and they're getting angrier,
• 03:50 I want you to very consciously reduce your own volume 20%.
• 03:56 Speak softer, that might calm them down.
• 03:59 That's just one tip.
• 04:01 If that's your business and you've had to do it yourself,
• 04:04 you have your own strategies.
• 04:05 But come up with very, very, specific action items for
• 04:12 your colleague or employee to do.
• 04:16 Maybe you have an employee who has just been promoted and
• 04:20 still dresses in a way that suggests not an executive.
• 04:24 It's too casual, it's too unflattering, and you need to help them.
• 04:29 What you've got to do is figure out, and
• 04:31 this can be awkward in the workplace talking about people's dress.
• 04:34 But you've gotta figure out a way to give them specific advice of
• 04:39 what is going to be flattering, what is going to help them with their own image.
• 04:46 And maybe that you point to someone you know they respect,
• 04:50 someone in their industry who is a well-known star.
• 04:55 And you see a photo of them or you see a video of them on YouTube.
• 04:58 And you comment on how good the clothing looks on that person,
• 05:03 and see if that can lay some seeds.
• 05:06 So you've gotta be delicate with these issues, but
• 05:09 you have to be highly specific.
• 05:11 Because if you're not specific,
• 05:14 the way it gets processed in someone's mind is, I'm a bad person.
• 05:19 I'm just not a born speaker.
• 05:21 I'm not born with natural style,
• 05:23 or I'm not born with knowing how to talk to clients on the phone.
• 05:27 That's baloney, people are taught skills.
• 05:29 All of this is learned skill.
• 05:33 There's not a lot in the business or
• 05:35 the world that can't be learned by people willing to learn.
• 05:38 So it's your job, if you're going to be the critic,
• 05:43 to then give highly, highly specific to do items for
• 05:47 this person so they can actually solve the problem.
• 05:52 That's your next step.
• 05:54 It's the third step in this process.
• 05:56 Come up with a specific action, but you can write it down and
• 06:01 hand the person in a letter, an email.
• 06:04 But face-to-face is always going to be better talking about it in conjunction
• 06:09 with all the strengths and laying out precisely what the problem is.
• 06:13 So come up with your solutions right now.
• 06:16 It's always easier to criticize.
• 06:20 That's true on politicians running for office.
• 06:22 It's true on a lot of things.
• 06:24 But if you really want to help this person, criticism isn't enough.
• 06:28 You've got to give specific tips on how to solve the problem, do it now.

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