#davesdailychallenge (82): The Mindset of the Listener. Are you trying to sell an idea, a product, or an experience? We all are. Is the person you’re selling to angry or upset in any way? Guess what, you’ve already lost and you might as well stop now. I sat in a meeting recently where two parties met to discuss a strategic issue and how to best approach it. The details aside, suffice it to say that the two parties were each trying to convince the other that their respective viewpoints were the correct one. I sat back and watched for over an hour as tempers flared, old grudges were brought up, and dogmatic viewpoints were expressed as if restating them was all that was necessary to convince others of their “rightness”. The truth was that the meeting was lost in about 2 minutes from it’s start. Whether or not anyone came into that room ready to listen, both viewpoints devolved into an exercise of who could ignore the other better. We can learn a great deal from this. You have to put the listener in the right mindset to hear you if you are going to have a chance to convince them of anything. Part of that practice actually involves more listening than speaking. Open your ears, eyes, and mind to truly hear what the other party values and needs. Shape your discussion around shared values and meeting mutual need. In other words, make it as easy as possible to get to yes. You will never get there if the mindset of the listener isn’t tuned to view you and your message in a positive light. Good luck my friends.