Speak First, Even If You Carry A Big Stick

The earlier your words come into play, the more you can shape the encounter.

Leadership Moment: First Welcome

A new restaurant just opened up in our town (Karma Asian Fusion, if you must know, and I’ll unabashedly say that their food is amazing). We decided to drop in, and, after we were seating, our server dropped by.

“Hi, I’m Shannon, I’ll be taking care of you this evening. Are there any dietary restrictions I should know about?”

No one has ever asked me that on sitting down. It always feels like I have to wedge it into ordering the meal, and hope that they recorded it in a helpful way. By asking up front, I knew that they were committing to keeping us safe. To test, we did order something that I knew I couldn’t have, but the rest of the party could; it was correctly flagged for us.

But think about the inclusive timing of a question around accommodations. Asking early removes a lot of energy strain off of your team.

Take a gander at this one minute pro tip from last year.

Appearances

Recent

Oct 22, 12:00 PM ET: Webinar, CISO Wellbeing

Upcoming

Oct 31, 2000 Israel (Kraft Sports Complex): American Football in Israel season opener

Nov 1, 1:00 PM ET: Super Cyber Friday, Hacking Your Cyber Brand

Oct 29-Nov 14, I’ll be in Tel Aviv if anyone local is looking to catch up.

One Minute Pro Tip: Don’t Blindside Your Team

Last week, Patriots head coach Jerod Mayo said that his team was playing “soft.” That’s not a compliment in football, and a lot of folks in his audience jumped at the discord - was the coach throwing his team under the bus? Nope. Quick player interviews were universally met with a variant of “Yeah, that’s what he told us in the locker room.”

If you’re going to say a thing that your team might react badly too, they should always hear it from you first. If someone else might say a dangerous thing, and you know about it … pass it on yourself. Remove surprise from encounters, whether it’s your team that didn’t perform well, or an unpleasant escalation headed to your boss. A quick conversation can remove a lot of harm.