"Jane" had recently taken over a new team, and reached out for advice on a meeting she planned to have with one of her subordinates, "Julie". Jane needed to turn down Julie's request for shifting work between units. She had also been advised by one of her other subordinates that "you're not good at these discussions," and wanted to be sure she didn't create a relationship issue in the process.
Jane thought through the business case, and wrote out what she planned to say.
She came up with solid reasons to refuse the request, and it all made sense. The only pitfall was that by presenting it all in one shot, it could seem like overkill.
My advice to Jane was to present her first and strongest argument, and ask Julie what she thought.
That's all it took for a good meeting, and Jane accomplished her goal.
It is a common mistake to jump in up front with our full set of arguments, where often starting with the simpler case is more effective. By presenting the entire salvo, you can actually look less confident in your position. Why else would you have gone nuclear on something that only required a hand grenade?
For the rest of the article, just drop me a note at John@JHACareers.com, and you can check out the contents of past issues and selected articles at www.JHACareers.com/Newsletter.htm
Other topics I covered in this issue include:
John
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John West Hadley Career Search Counselor (908) 725-2437
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