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David Gardner
This Weeks Thought - Zealots, Opponents & Golden Supporters
Reading Time 3 minutes & 55 seconds For a Podcast of this thought please click here Or iPod & iTunes - Users Click Here
Whether you want to extend you house, or go on holiday, the one thing most projects have in common is they will effect other people. You maybe surprised at the number of people your projects might be effecting, it could be ten’s, hundred’s, thousand’s or even million’s of people. So I'm always on the look out for ideas that might help get people on my side.
Then one day bingo. I came across a great book called "Managing Sensitive Projects" (Olivier D'Herbemont) and although this created a thought which was a little different to the ones I normally post here, after my third conversation with other people on the topic I thought it was worthy of inclusion. This is my version of what the book said about the energy people are willing to invest in supporting or opposing you on your projects and how best to deal with them.
So here goes
Zealots are your fan club. They will support you 100% and like the football supporter will remain loyal. However they expect you to keep telling them what' your doing and keep them convinced that your on the road to success. If you do this they will extend you lots of their time and energy.
Opponents are out to beat you, it is a competition; there is no compromise and no room for second place. The activity your trying to achieve may be against someone’s value’s. You cannot convince opponent’s that they should support you and they are prepared to expend a lot of energy trying to stop you. If success means that you need to beat them then this is what you must do. However don’t make the crucial mistake of spending too much of your time trying to do this, spend time with allies its more fun and much more productive if you want to beat them.
The Golden (Triangles) Supporters are those people who will support you, but are very challenging with the what’s and the why’s. Maybe they’re a boss, coach or mentor. They are your thermometer which will let you know what may other people are thinking. They are prepared to expel lots of energy in supporting you. What they expect from you, is that you listen to them and act on their feedback. Spend lots of your time with these people they should be treasured.
The “Waverers” (from the verb wavering) haven’t decided yet whether they support your project or activity or not, in politics they’re the swing voters and there prepared to listen before they make up their mind. They have varying levels of energy and sometime may commit quite a lot of energy towards supporting your. You can persuade them providing you can answer and act on, their most significant concerns. Your golden supporters can help you persuade these people towards your view and will give you early warning of their concerns. These people are typically critical to achieving what ever you’re trying to do
Passives are the silent majority. They probable account for 80% of the people who are going to be impacted by what ever it is you’re try to do. But they will expel no energy listening, supporting or opposing you. They will switch off when you speaking and dump any information you give them. It is the “waverers” that will convince these people to support or oppose you. They are very important but because you can’t affect them directly, forget trying to persuade them yourself.
There are also moaners who don’t like what you doing and will moan but when push comes to shove they won’t commit much effort to stopping you. Mutineers who will try everything to stop you but fortunately they’re rare and anyway you want to keep as far away from them as possible, and final schemers who make up their own minds with their own information and can’t be persuade by you or anyone else so forgot them.
So with all this in mind I hope to have a greater positive impact.
Till next week
THE MUST HAVE
"THE ACHIEVERS EDGE"
By Peter Thompson
More Great CD Programs
The Automatic Millionaire -David Bach Discover you Strengths - M Buckingham Richard Branson's Auto biography Brilliant Memory - Dominic O'Brien Think & Grow Rich - Napoleon Hill Freakonomics - Stephen Levitt Getting Things Done - David Allen The Machine That Changed the World Watching the English - Kate Fox
Twelve questions to high performance
The bee can't fly but no one told the bee
The Maverick Mindset of Baseball
Two Cannibals and a Beautiful Girl
Sorry what was your name again?
Is there such thing as Common Sense
Other books and CDs I've mentioned can be found here
There are loads of great audio programs at Nightingale Conant's ,web site here,
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