Great Advice on Business Relationships

I recently came across an interesting article in Fortune magazine where they interviewed 25 accomplished people asking them what was the best piece of advice they ever received. These people ranged from CEO’s, to mayors, to members of the military. Several I found unenlightening, reiterating the “just do it” attitude. However, a few stuck with me.

One of the pieces of advice came from Indra Nooyi, the CEO of Pepsico. Her father taught her to always assume positive intent from strangers. As she summarized:

"When you assume negative intent, you’re angry. If you take away that anger and assume positive intent, you will be amazed. Your emotional quotient goes up because you are no longer almost random in your response. You don’t get defensive. You don’t scream. You are trying to understand and listen because at your basic core you are saying, “Maybe they are saying something to me that I’m not hearing."

This is a great piece of advice. If we assume that people are trying to help us (which is 95% of the time), we will be more receptive to feedback and their unique point of view. This is true of business and presentations as well as our personal life.

Since feedback is the primary tool we use to help bring more awareness to our dialogue, it always important to be grateful when people give us feedback. This is often difficult: our natural response when we hear criticism is to go on the defensive. However, if we approach the situation assuming that the person criticizing us is doing so to try and help us, then it becomes much easier to see their point of view. Always work to accept the feedback as possibly correct. Use the 1% rule: assume that all of the feedback is at least partially true, at least 1%.

Nonetheless, this does not mean that if you assume that everyone has positive intent that you should become obsequious. Mark Hurd, CEO of Hewlett-Packard, relates the story of a CEO listening to a well-crafted and persuasive presentation with a gracious and courteous manner. However, at the conclusion “he nodded and said something brief but profound: ‘Good story, but it’s hard to look smart with bad numbers.’”

While you should assume positive intent, this does not mean that you should overlook the underlying substance of what is going on. Always try to deliver the goods: bad performance cannot be covered up forever.

The way the CEO approached the issue is reflected in another piece of advice that Sam Palmisano, the CEO of IBM, retold. He relates that he has observed many important people – CEO’s, heads of state, etc. - and that many of the most effective leaders don’t make themselves the center of attention. Instead they listen, they are respectful. They’ve learned to approach people positively, and in doing so devoted and hard-working people flock to them. Nonetheless, they are not afraid to point out the facts.

Finally, Craig Newmark, founder of Craig’s list, retells the story of his then boss telling him that his sense of humor was his saving grace in dealing with people in business. Often, different divisions can be hostile to each other (and there is no doubt that disgruntled customers are often hostile towards customer service). Always trying to maintain a sense of humor will help to alleviate tense situations, as well as making you seem more approachable.

Approaching people with a sense of humor, an open and gracious mood, but still not being afraid to “tell it like it is” is indeed great advice.

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