Dear Edie,

 

It's me again with the next portion of our TEAM talk!

T is for TRUST and E is for EMPATHY!

 

Unfortunately, this attribute comes into play mostly when things are not going so great in someone’s business. Hey, it happens to ALL of us at one point or another and may be needed on all different levels of success. (Quick Hint: Your business will NEVER grow fast enough!!) How we handle these times for ourselves and others on our team often determine how high we will ascend! So let's just chat about it!

 

Empathy and Sympathy are sort of cousin words that can go a long way in the building of an effective TEAM. Now before we get too sappy here, I do not mean we should be throwing 'pity parties' for all of the trying times encountered in building our businesses!! No, this empathy thing is more of like an understanding of what it really takes to create success! An understanding that sometimes LIFE just plain gets in the way of our productivity!

 

Once again our YELLOW and GREEN friends have a decided advantage over the more 'driven' RED and the 'all over the place' BLUE personalities. BUT while reds and blues need to work harder on creating empathy in a relationship, yellows and greens NEED to protect against staying there too long!!! :-)

 

So let's look at how we do it and then what to do with it!

 

SLOW DOWN!  Take the time needed to show your team that you are there for them. Sometimes we are all going so crazy fast trying to do more, and build more, that we neglect the foundation we are working so hard to build.

 

BE QUICK TO LISTEN AND SLOW TO SPEAK! This can be a tough one especially because we are leaders and we all have the answers, don't we?! :-) Sometimes just hearing someone vent their fears, frustrations and yes, EXCITEMENT is all that is needed to show someone you really care what is happening for them. This is where that old saying comes in: People don't care how much you know, until they know how much you care!

 

ASK QUESTIONS: You will be amazed at what you can find out about your teammates by simply asking questions. (No Reds, not like "Why haven’t you sponsored someone today?" And No Greens, not questions YOU feel YOU need the answer too!) Questions that expand the conversation in the direction that it is going allowing them to know that you are truly listening. Those that get good at this skill ask questions that gently guide the conversation with questions that actually produce answers by the person with the challenge or issue!!

 

SHOW YOUR EMOTIONS:  We are all in this together! Be understanding of the tough times BUT don't neglect the importance of the good time too!! Be excited about the little AND big things that are happening on your team. The little thing to you may be a big thing to someone else!! 

 

Alright, now let’s all just hold hands, join in a big circle and give each other a big group hug!! That's EMPATHY! :-)

 

But now what do we do with it??

 

Well...nothing really! It just is. Every color has a built in need to be understood! It's human nature. The challenge comes in moving from here to a more productive environment.

 

I believe that there is really nothing "NEW" about our business. We have all had virtually the same feelings and thoughts somewhere in our development (If you have not yet, keep going, you will!) SO let others know you have had the same trials and tribulations! (It sort of feels good to know that a STAR TREK COMMANDER had people stand them up too!!) But let them know it did not stop you either!! Talk about the possibilities! Share your Vision! Outline the cloud with silver! Make lemonade out of the lemons! Pull yourself up by the boot straps! WIN ONE FOR THE GIPPER!!!! (You get the idea)

 

The fool proof way to exit the Empathy stage is to LEAD BY EXAMPLE! In our business, it is often said that there are no challenges that sponsoring a new person won't cure! Do YOU have personal knowledge that that is true? Try it! It works! YOU CAN DO IT!! Others will follow!

 

Thanks for listening so intently! I feel much better!

 

 

Pat  

 

 

 

PatHintze.com