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To make yourself heard without getting on your nerves - it's not that easy
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Holger, 48 years old, asks: "I'm a sales manager and I see great potential for our company. I could triple our business with my team in two years, but my ideas don't get through. I can't even talk to the sales director, although I've already sent him perfectly prepared data several times. How can I best assert myself? "
Dear Holger,
You want more, but you are not getting anywhere with your current repertoire.
Because:
Your excellent work is not the basis for your influence on the board.
Performance and influence are two completely different dimensions.
That has already made many ambitious people desperate.
How does influence arise?
It's a long, mostly invisible process, but one that you understand immediately when you take the perspective of the board of directors.
Board members feel surrounded, pressured, and stalked by suggestions for improvement.
They constantly hear ideas, advice and criticism with which employees, colleagues, works councils want to assert themselves, even in their free time these comments come from family and friends.
The bosses would never get through the day if they couldn't distance themselves from this flood.
This is why superiors prefer to talk to people who do not want anything from them, who treat them with calm and benevolence.
When do board members react?
When there is closeness.
When they are happy because they expect an appreciative conversation.
If you don't set yourself apart, you don't have to say no.
The assistant will sense this and put you through immediately, "but my boss will be happy to hear from you!"
You already guessed it: A perfect presentation as an attachment to an email is not enough.
The four-point strategy: How to make yourself heard
This strategy will challenge you personally and it will take a while, because lasting influence can only be achieved with this attitude and these signals:
Convey your appreciation to the board members.
Compliment something you actually like, no matter how small.
Congratulate yourself on success, preferably with a postcard that always stands out.
Thank you for privileges and opportunities.
Many people think: the company car / the well-equipped office / the bonus / the freedom of choice / attending a seminar - I'm just entitled to all of this, I earned it myself.
Overcome claims and give gratitude a try.
Strive for a generous demeanor.
Overlook behavior deficits or mistakes on the part of your board members.
Always assume good motives.
Chef bashing is popular but disastrous for your influence and career.
Be a promise of success.
Save yourself explanations of your competencies, concepts and suggestions.
Instead, describe precisely and briefly what drives you: What do you want to achieve for the company?
Where should everything go better?
You may think that this appreciation is not common with us and yet comes across as embarrassing.
On the contrary!
Influential people practice this all the time with the greatest possible ease.
Your sales director is your ally in working for the good of the company.
This is how you meet him.
Even if you rarely meet him in person.
They do not beg for talks, do not demand any, and do not wait for him after conferences.
Rather:
Speak positively to others about what he is doing for the company (he will learn about it).
Send him a postcard with a congratulations or appreciation, "I really liked your presentation because I am also very moved by how we can reach XY faster ..."
Meet him in a good mood at random meetings and remark in one (!) (Short!) Sentence: "I am so excited about your plans because I am striving for significantly more sales success".
Make a compliment on one of his successes, combined with an indication of what
you
see as good for the company or what
you were
able to achieve as a result: "I admire the way you have steered the company through the crisis, my team is even more motivated . "
Refrain from any criticism, any unsolicited suggestion, and avoid any sensitive business topic widely.
Instead, make him curious about what you have to say because you always mention (briefly!) What
you are
currently doing successfully.
If you work directly with him, you can always show him your appreciation and gratitude personally in conversations and meetings, with e-mails and short messages.
Don't let it go - keep doing it.
Dear Holger, everyone wants to be successful.
Your sales director too.
You give him the feeling: "With me you will be even more successful".
Icon: The mirror
