When you start becoming people's friends, that's when the lines get blurred and we get confused. If you're overly nice, overly kind, overly polite, that's when you get rolled. How to get someone to do what you want. The biggest mistake people make is they talk a lot. If I'm doing all the talking and you're doing all the listening, you're learning everything about me. You're learning about what I care about, my values, my belief systems. You're getting a good read on me. There's a myth that people think, if I do most of the talking, I have control. It's garbage. What you want to understand is that person's motivational mindset. What are you motivated by? So that is your value and belief system. Everybody's motivated by something different. But I have to hear you and pay attention to you to understand what that is. Here, have a drink. Talk to me. Let me know. If you give people enough space, they will reveal themselves to you. But we're so busy talking, we're so busy making noise because we think, everybody needs to hear me. Everybody needs to know me, me, me, me. You know what? Nobody cares.
If you're really trying to build a connection with a person, then build it. And let them tell you what they think. Because now I see the world through your lens, not mine. I always say when, especially I do a lot of keynotes and training for businesses, you don't matter. They matter. What do they want? What do they need? What's important to them? Let them tell you. And then when they tell you, instead of trying to guess how to enter a conversation, what do I do? I shut up. I listen. I let you reveal to me what matters to you, what your values are. And then I come in more intelligently into the conversation. And I speak to you. People will show you what they care about. If we just hold back, stay silent, ask good questions, and you know what? We're genuinely curious. I genuinely want to get to know you. I genuinely want to understand you. I don't genuinely want to tell you all about me. That's different. And the one factor that's really important is not having judgment, being non-judgmental. When you show judgment to another person, they're going to filter what they say. They're going to shut down. They're going to hold back because nobody likes to be judged.
Also in the room, my goal was not to get them to like me. My goal was to get them to feel heard, to feel respected, for me to be professional. And I think we bring the wrong terms, because it's confusing. If I want you to like me to think of it this way, then I'm going to think I have to be nice to him. I have to be his friend. In business, you can be warm. But when you start becoming people's friends, that's when the lines get blurred and we get confused.
In fact, there's research done by Susan Fisk and Chris Malone. And they say, be warm to people. Be open and approachable. But if you're overly nice, overly kind, overly polite, that's when you get rolled. You want to find that beautiful balance. Where I'm a professional, I'm warm, I'm non-judgmental. Come talk to me, tell me. But at the same time, I maintain my authority. I maintain my boundaries. I maintain my authority. I maintain my authority. I maintain my authority. I maintain my authority.
I maintain my authority. I maintain my authority. I maintain my authority. I maintain my authority. I maintain my authority. I maintain my authority. I maintain my authority. I maintain my authority. I maintain my authority. I maintain my authority.