The effective leader should keep the following guidelines
in mind when it is necessary to change attitudes or
behavior:
1. Be sincere. Do not promise anything that you
cannot deliver. Forget about the benefits to yourself
and concentrate on the benefits to the other person.
2. Know exactly what it is you want the other person
to do.
3. Be empathetic. Ask yourself what is it the other
person really wants.
4. Consider the benefits that person will receive
from doing what you suggest.
5. Match those benefits to the other person’s wants.
6. When you make your request, put it in a form
that will convey to the other person the idea that he
personally will benefit. We could give a curt order like
this: " John, we have customers coming in tomorrow
and I need the stockroom cleaned out. So sweep it out,
put the stock in neat piles on the shelves and polish
the counter.” Or we could express the same idea by
showing John the benefits he will get from doing the
task: “John, we have a job that should be completed
right away. If it is done now, we won’t be faced with
it later. I am bringing some customers in tomorrow to
show our facilities. I would like to show them the
stockroom, but it is in poor shape. If you could sweep
it out, put the stock in neat piles on the shelves, and
polish the counter, it would make us look efficient and
you will have done your part to provide a good company
image.”
Will John be happy about doing what you suggest?
Probably not very happy, but happier than if you had not
pointed out the benefits. Assuming you know that John
has pride in the way his stockroom looks and is interested
in contributing to the company image, he will be
more likely to be cooperative. It also will have been
pointed out to John that the job would have to be done
eventually and by doing it now, he won’t be faced with
it later.
It is naïve to believe you will always get a favorable
reaction from other persons when you use these approaches,
but the experience of most people shows that
you are more likely to change attitudes this way than by
not using these principles - and if you increase your successes
by even a mere 10 percent, you have become 10
percent more effective as a leader than you were before
- and that is your benefit.
People are more likely to do what you would like them
to do when you use.
PRINCIPLE 9
Make the other person happy about doing
the thing you suggest.
In a Nutshell
BE A LEADER
A leader’s job often includes changing your people’s
attitudes and behavior. Some suggestions to accomplish
this:
PRINCIPLE 1
Begin with praise and honest appreciation.
PRINCIPLE 2
Call attention to people’s mistakes indirectly.
PRINCIPLE 3
Talk about your own mistakes before criticizing
the other
person.
PRINCIPLE 4
Ask questions instead of giving direct orders.
PRINCIPLE 5
Let the other person save face.
PRINCIPLE 6
Praise the slightest improvement and praise every
improvement. Be “hearty in your approbation and
lavish in
your praise.”
