What do you call your stakeholder?
It is funny how trains of thought go.
I read that someone was giving up smoking for 2013. I tweeted that use of the phrase “giving up” was constantly reminding them of what they were going without. As anyone with children will know, trying to tell them they can’t do something is not conducive to achieving the desired outcome.
I then read a tweet in reaction to a blog entitled HR: a 10-point agenda for change that said “you get the gist everyone hates HR”.
Putting these two trains of thought together, I wonder how much the words we use about our own stakeholders get in the way of us achieving our desired outcome. How often do we hear “they don’t understand” or “they don’t listen”? Or what about “it’s us against them”, “we need to win the argument” and “we’ll beat them”? Although it has to be said I’ve yet to hear “they hate us” or even “I hate them”.
The reminder comes when we realise that those who do achieve their goals, those whose stakeholders write about their relationship in SM and those who win awards will already be aware of the language they use and the beliefs they hold about their stakeholders. While it might not be about loving each other I’m sure it will be about collaboration, listening, understanding and doing it together.
If you’re not achieving your desired outcome, how might the language you use and the beliefs you hold be holding you back? Just a passing thought as I start my day.
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I call mine ‘darling’.
They are your customers, your clients, the people who buy your products and services. They pay your bills, your wages. They are ones who enable you to live the life you choose. Without them you have no business, no job, no house, no home. Treat them with the respect that they deserve, for without them you are nothing.
Gavin is right but is missing something too. The relationship is not one of our dependance on our clents/customers etc. It should be a symbiotic relationship, where their success and our success is achieved by effective collaboration by both parties.