What We're Reading Now
Moving Others
23 April 2024
Janie read To Sell Is Human: The Surprising Truth About Moving Others by Dan Pink and considered different ways to implement what she learned.
Tags: dan pink, janie read
In my roles at work, with community organizations, and as a mom and partner, I spend a lot of my time trying to get people to do things. When I have a request or I need to follow up on something, I often feel like I am bothering the other person, or that I’m being a nag. This framing isn’t terribly helpful, and it doesn’t help me get things done. In his book, To Sell Is Human, Pink offers a different perspective that has helped me change my thinking. He contends that in every “sale,” or interaction where you’re trying to move someone to your point of view, you should start by asking yourself two questions.
- “If the person you’re selling to agrees to buy, will his or her life improve?”
- “When your interaction is over, will the world be a better place than when you began?”
Pink suggests that if the answer to either of these questions is no, then you’re doing something wrong. I hadn’t really thought about things like this before, and doing so helped me quiet the persistent voice in my head that tells me I’m being a bother.
This change in my thinking has been particularly useful as I navigate my new volunteer role as Membership Director for Cville SHRM. I’ve been on the board for Cville SHRM for many years now. However, my involvement has always been focused on Programming (i.e., recruiting the speakers and coordinating the venue and catering for each of our monthly meetings). This year, I’ve moved into the role of Membership Director. This is a meaningful shift for me because I have gotten so much value from Cville SHRM and I’m excited to spread the word with others who might not know about us. I pushed myself to think about why people should join Cville SHRM and here is my pitch:
Cville SHRM is the place to connect with other HR professionals, learn from each other, and use those learnings to inspire and lead others.
When thinking about my “pitch,” I realized if I’m focused on what others are getting, and I stay open to feedback to help me gauge whether people are better off after joining than they were before, I think I’m doing okay.
If you haven’t been to a Cville SHRM meeting before, I would love to have you join us as my guest! Please reach out to me if you’re interested in learning more. We meet at Hillsdale Conference Center on the second Tuesday of the month; our next meeting is Tuesday, May 14 from 11:30am – 1:00pm.
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