imagine my surprise when a former senior vice president of a major technology leader demanded — “treat me like a imbecile!” forget the political incorrectness for a second. pay no mind that this woman is intelligent, accomplished, independent — the whole nine. what is she trying to communicate? she said that sometimes you need to follow the k.i.s.s. principle with clients like her. counter-intuitive? sure. she went on to say that you may need to lay out a popcorn trail to follow, or place a connect the dots drawing in front of folks. don’t assume you have someone’s attention when you’re talking with them, or standing directly in front of them. minds can start elsewhere or begin to drift. this is especially true with the power crowd. they have a ton on their minds and much to juggle in any given day. so how do you switch gears into a simpler approach? the answer: gingerly. try prefacing with “would it be helpful if i bring this down to a much easier and more direct level?” anything that’s in a similar spirit will do the trick.
last (but not least), make sure to set expectations and deadlines. professionals who are migrating from the corporate world to the small business, entrepreneurial sector definitely benefit from structure. here’s where this gets tricky. structure isn’t a rigid, immovable object like a large ticking clock or the dreaded project management interface. it’s more like a fluid shadow that goes where you go. it’s a subtle yet equally constant reminder.
