5
FROM THE FOUNDER
I f you want to have a more successful AEC business – you want happier people working for you, better relationships with everyone else, and less daily stress – you had best learn how to put yourself in the “other guy’s” shoes. Being able to see things through the eyes of the people you work with and who work for you is one of the most critical leadership skills you can develop. Put yourself in the other guy’s shoes
Being able to see things through the eyes of the people you work with and who work for you is one of the most critical leadership skills you can develop. And yes, it is a skill you can develop. Some people are naturally more empathetic than others. But even if that isn’t your tendency, there are tactics you can employ to improve your clarity on what other people are thinking, and that is going to help you meet their needs and expectations and deal with them better. Let’s look at some of those: 1. Learn to ask questions and listen to what the other guy is saying without being immediately defensive. Ask follow-up questions. Pay attention to all of the body language signals. Be attentive and take notes. Parrot back what you are hearing them say. It shows you are actually listening. I know this is hard (to not be defensive when
people have what you consider to be faulty thinking), but it’s absolutely necessary. Stop. Listen. And learn.
Mark Zweig
2. Get to really know your people. That means you have to spend time with them. Stop by their work spaces to check in on them. Take them with you to meet clients. Take them on trips to clients or job sites. Go out to lunch with them. Talk to them outside of work. Text them. Get to know what they are going through and what their thought processes are. 3. Be a worker yourself. Don’t be one of those people who locks yourself away in your office and won’t get your hands dirty doing the actual work of the business. When you work alongside your people on revenue-generating work, you build trust and credibility with them. That’s going to
See MARK ZWEIG , page 6
THE ZWEIG LETTER DECEMBER 18, 2023, ISSUE 1517
Made with FlippingBook flipbook maker