With 15 years’ experience motivating and inspiring some of the world’s largest organizations, Business Consultant and Keynote Speaker David Meade gives his take on harnessing your personality in business.
Engaging others has never been more difficult. Whether it’s your business partner, employee, or a potential new client, the changing world of work has made communication, motivation, and collaboration significantly more challenging.
Rebuilding from the pandemic, business leaders across every state are managing this shift and finding new ways to ensure a highly productive, rewarding, and satisfying work environment for their teams. Many companies have also had to rethink their priorities, and as competition grows increasingly tough, those business leaders who can foster a level of trust and respect among their clients, suppliers, and employees will see their performance soar.
The key to that relationship is your personality. After 15 years of working to motivate, inspire, and engage with individuals at all management levels with clients such as Apple, PwC, Facebook, Harvard, and Deloitte, I have settled on five key tips to best leverage your personality in business.
Let’s start with the personality of your business. Humans react to brands in the same way they do people, and emotional connections are created in an instant. Not every business choice is based on statistics or rationality, meaning that great products and services sometimes aren’t enough. If they want to maintain and attract interest and ensure their company is memorable, valuable, and trustworthy, leaders should seek to implement a brand personality that is authentic and aligns with their goals.
Now onto your own relationship with your client, stakeholder, or employee. The foundation of a great relationship is one that energizes, orients, and engages those involved. Teams cannot be motivated if they don’t know what they’re working toward; therefore, establishing a shared vision for your company’s direction or business deal is a prerequisite for success. Taking time to ensure you are each working toward the same overarching agenda, and that you have aligned to your client’s priorities, will lead your business in the right direction.
Though professional in nature, your relationship with your client is more than just a paycheck. Acknowledging that you see them as a person will go a long way. The extent to which you establish a personal connection will vary depending on the industry, client type, and their own personality; however, appealing to their interests may be appreciated. If you know they are a parent, simply asking how their children are doing is a good example of a subtle way to demonstrate this.
Remuneration, benefits, and rewards are common and popular ways of valuing employees’ input. But many employees also value recognition of the specific work they are putting in. Praise your employees’ contributions and take the time to look at everything they have achieved throughout the pandemic, showing that you personally value their work.
As a leader, accepting that your board members, business partners, managers, and employees will be watching how you conduct yourself in your own role is key. Demonstrate the behavior that you want people to follow, whether that means having compassion, showing an interest in your staff, or shooting the breeze with a client. Aligning your words to your actions will foster more trust, respect, and loyalty. Let your clients see that you are working hard too, and they will be more inclined to respect the operation you are running.
