Several years ago, one of our Affiliates in the San Francisco Bay Area who said she had a “lead” for me from a large defense contracting company, which said they needed some training in “presentation skills” (let’s call her “C”).
Before going to the meeting, I learned that the division which had called was a group of elite physicists, who had not had a lot of work to do since U.S. involvement in wars had slowed down (this was before 9/11, before our wars in Afghanistan and Iraq).
Listening for Maximum Influence
I arranged a meeting with the group and asked them a lot of questions about the organization, its mission, goals and what their specific group needed. As I probed, I learned about many dysfunctional aspects of the large organization. I also learned that this specific group of physicists wanted “presentation skills” because they now had to find assignments for themselves; otherwise the group would have to be downsized or eliminated.
A few of them said they needed to learn how to make presentations to companies and then struggled for another word. Finally, they said, they meant “lobbying skills”, which in their universe, was the same as selling skills. But since lobbying is something which is done in the world of defense contracting, that was the closest word they could use to describe their needs. I still did not have a clear understanding of what they wanted.
But since lobbying is something which is done in the world of defense contracting, that was the closest word they could use to describe their needs. I still did not have a clear understanding of what they wanted.
Preliminary finding – “Influence Skills” needed
After awhile, I pulled a copy of my book “Seven Secrets of Influence” from my briefcase. Around the room, there were several “ah-hah’s”. Several of them said, “that’s what we need”. Now here’s the important part: I could have, right then, scheduled a “Secrets of Influence” seminar. But after all the information I had gleaned about the larger organization, my professional opinion was that doing the Influence program then would have just been a band-aid solution.
The Bigger Picture – Influencing the Whole Organization
I believed they needed a larger “organizational development” intervention. I told them what I thought, assured them that of course we’d get to the Influence program to address their specific need, but believed it should be delayed until we addressed the larger situation.
I referred the client to another colleague, (Consultant “G”) an organizational expert. She then visited the group, had meetings with the top management, and contracted with them for a $250,000.00 project.
The results? A win-win-win-win. The company got a major makeover; the physicists got their Influence program, our affiliate, Consultant C got a finders’ fee; Consultant G got a huge project, I got a finders’ fee on that, and we all got a great success story!
The lesson here for consultants: even if there is a potential immediate contract (especially in these times) of “low hanging fruit” – something which is asked for or obvious – there may be much more to do, if you think in terms of the larger system, the whole organization. In this situation, thinking about them and their organization’s needs led to projects for several consultants and a healthier client organization.
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