If you are passionate about leading change then you constantly find yourself engaging people different than yourself. I often lead change poorly when I assume the person I’m seeking to persuade feels and believes the same things I do.
When I’ve sought to understand and discern their differences and shared my vision for change in light of what’s valuable to them is when traction happens.
Here are two lists that will help you discern what kind of person you are seeking to persuade:
From a recent Seth Godin blog post:
- The ego–seeks applause and recognition.
- The lizard–seeks safety, wants to fit in and not be rejected or criticized.
- The artist–wants to be generous, creative and make positive change with impact.
- The boxer–wants to poke and be poked, seeks revenge and ultimately victory.
- The zombie–wants to turn off and be entertained.
- The carpenter–seeks to do useful work, and finish it well.
- The philanthropist–wants to help, anonymously.
- The evangelist–wants to spread an idea.
- And the hunter–wants to successfully track and bring down a target.
From Charlene Li author of Groundswell:
- The Fearful Skeptic
- The Cautious Tester
- The Optimistic Realist
- The Transparent Evangelist