Excellerate Associates

Excellerate Associates, the go-to business mentors for entrepreneurial and leadership development

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Decoding Human Wiring: Building Stronger Customer Relationships

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In today’s world of business, a lot of the challenges we face come down to working with people. Specifically, the question arises: How can you effectively communicate with your clients or customers and meet their inherent communication needs?

Human Wiring tells us how people are best engaged in decision making, why some people want lots of information to make an effective decision and others want critical points of information. None of this wiring is good or bad or right or wrong, it just is. When you notice communication cues of your internal and external customers, you create unstoppable teams and raving fans.

One of my clients gave me permission to share her experience with her doctor’s office as it constructively illustrates how human wiring is at work each and every day. My client is naturally wired high in communication (Verbal Thinker) and highest in information/certainty. She needs information (high in Certainty/Information) so she can talk through issues (high in Communication) to crystallize her thoughts and decisions.

Since she was not sleeping well, she called her physician who ordered an at-home sleep test that uses sensors to detect breathing patterns. Once her physician got the results, the physician’s assistant called to tell her that she should see her dentist for a mask and would send the results over to the dentist.

She received no report to discern the extent of her condition, no opportunity to ask questions, and no time to talk through next steps. Her dentist also didn’t receive the report so there was no follow through.

Left to figure out the next steps without knowing how serious her condition was and the lack of follow through from her doctor’s office, she began to develop a mistrust with her doctor’s office. For someone wired highest on the certainty/information scale, follow through on something you say you will do is important to them. Information on her results also is integral to her decision making.

Once we had an opportunity to talk through her concerns, she was able to call her physican’s office back to ask for additional information so that she could make an effective decision. It’s not until she has the information that she can move ahead on her treatment plan.

So, what can businesses and professionals do to enhance customer service and communication? It all starts with listening attentively to what people say and how they convey their needs. Learning to adapt your communication style to meet the specific needs of each individual is not as daunting as it may seem.

Here are the key steps:

1. Notice.

Notice how someone is giving you their communication. If they are asking a lot of questions, they are seeking missing information so that they can make a decision. In this case, what the physician’s assistant did and did not do gives indicators on what she needs in her communication. Unfortunately, she missed important steps that would have made a big difference in communication and in preserving the patient relationship, like asking the patient what questions or concerns she may have had.

2. Utilize Diverse Communication Channels.

Recognize that different people prefer different modes of communication. Some require result-oriented information, while others benefit from discussions. Some need guidance on next steps, and still, others thrive on comprehensive data. Mapping out your client communication process to accommodate these diverse wiring preferences is more feasible than you might imagine. And, including certain information to effectively communicate with all of the wiring patterns is easy. Start by downloading our free infographic, Wiring Matters – Be Extraordinary When Communicating With Others
https://www.excellerateassociates.com/hardwiring

Invitation

If you’re intrigued by the concept of Human Wiring and want to increase your communication effectiveness, register for ]

Wired to Win: Your Path to Passion, Purpose, and Prosperity scheduled for September 19-20, 2023.
Remember to register by Friday, September 8 at https://www.excellerateassociates.com/wired-to-win/

Beyond Persuasion: The Leader’s Path to Authentic Engagement

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Throughout your journey as a leader, you will find yourself selling concepts, initiatives, and visions. Whether you’re a seasoned leader or just stepping into a leadership role, the key to rallying others behind your cause lies in your grasp of the underlying principles that drive engagement.

When my clients delve into the intricacies of human wiring, particularly in the context of leading with and through others, they discover a refreshing revelation: leadership isn’t about coercing others into compliance or pushing them to adopt perspectives they’re not inclined towards. Nor does it involve a specific sequence of statements designed to manipulate outcomes. Nevertheless, these misconceptions often cloud people’s minds when they’re tasked with championing a vision, initiative, or strategy.

Leadership is fundamentally an act of respect. The highest form of respect towards others is the act of understanding their desires and communicating in a manner that resonates with them.

One of my clients, a seasoned leader with years of experience, gained fresh insights into the intricacies of human wiring. She recognized that she thrived in face-to-face interactions. Her enthusiasm was infectious, making her the go-to person for infusing a sense of fun. Naturally, she gravitated towards the social aspects of her role, excelling at motivating her team to engage in projects.

However, there was one challenge she faced – enlisting a manager into a special project group. Despite their long-standing mutual respect for one another, this manager occasionally came across as dismissive and curt in communication. When I inquired about how she planned to involve this manager in the task force, she was naturally inclined to employ her typical approach: enlisting the manager in a manner she herself would appreciate. Her strategy revolved around highlighting the enjoyment and positive experience awaiting the manager. Before she could elaborate further, I invited her to consider an alternative approach.

Oftentimes, when we describe our perception of someone, it can reveal a contrasting facet of their unique human wiring. I encouraged her to engage the manager by uncovering the manager’s priorities. I also suggested she emphasize the outcomes that the manager envisioned through participation in the task force.

The following day, the phone rang. My client was elated to share her success in seamlessly involving the manager in the task force. In that moment of enlisting the manager’s support, she realized that when she tailored her communication to cater to the manager’s preferences – by inquiring about the manager’s priorities and focusing on desired outcomes – enlisting support became effortless.

In the realm of leadership, captivating others with your vision, initiative, or strategy boils down to a simple formula:

-Uncover what holds significance for them without attachment to an outcome.
-Ask them what new skills they would acquire from participating in the project.
-Deliver your message in a manner that resonates with their unique style of receiving information.

By delivering communication the way the other person needs to receive it, you extend the utmost respect to the other individual. Furthermore, as you model the ways to engage others, you inspire powerful, effective action from others.

If you seek to transform your outcomes in both your professional and personal domains of life, I invite you to join us for the Wired to Win: Your Path to Passion, Purpose, and Prosperity. Registration information is below:

Invitation to Transform Your Outcomes – Register by September 8, 2023:

Wired to Win: Your Path to Passion, Purpose, and Prosperity
September 19-20, 2023
Excellerate Associates located at:Business Innovation Lab CoWorking & Conference Center, 38221 Plymouth Road, Suite 3, Livonia, MI 48150 – Sponsored by Great Lakes Women’s Business Council
Register prior to September 8 at

 

 

Your human wiring assessment and a private Welcome Strategy Call is included.

 

Unlocking Your Success: Harnessing the Power of Human Wiring in Business

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After spending more than 30 years helping companies navigate change and scale, one big secret to success is understanding how people and systems connect. It often comes as a surprise to business leaders that our human wiring has a significant impact when it comes to leading change and reaching goals.

Unfortunately, a lot of leaders doubt that human wiring has practical applications in the real world. They’re not so sure until we show them case studies of how companies went from losing almost all their employees to keeping everyone in just three months. Or how sales shot up by a whopping 90% in the same time period. We even show them how teams go from being drained to being energized.

I invite you to consider your own organizational domains where insights into human wiring could make a difference in achieving outcomes with greater freedom and ease:

Leadership and Management:

Ever notice what gets you all excited might totally bore someone else? When you figure out the innate motivation of each team member, how they make choices, and even how they generate ideas, you can organize your team to perform optimally. Understanding human wiring opens up ways to motivate and lead your team better, which means they get more done and enjoy their jobs.

As a leader, enhancing your own awareness of human wiring increases your and your team’s productivity. You can read about how to boost your team’s work by 40% in just a month in this recent article, Increase Your Team Member’s Productivity 40 Percent in 30 Days.)

Employee Engagement and Productivity:

Then there’s making employees engaged and productive. Did you know there are simple things you can do to set up workspaces to maximize productivity?

I once trained a company where one person was wired as an Internal Thinker. She needed quiet uninterrupted time to concentrate and execute her job duties. But her coworkers from sales, who loved being around people, sat right next to her and kept interrupting.

The sales team thought they were being friendly, but all the interruptions made the Internal Thinker frustrated even doubt herself. Once we got to the bottom of human wiring needs, the company moved the Internal Thinker, much to her delight, to a spot with fewer distractions.

If moving desks isn’t an option, technology can help too. If you work in an open area, affix a little “traffic light” on your computer that shows when you need quiet. It can even sync with your calendar and shines red or green to denote times to stay away and times to engage. It might sound small, but it can make a big difference in having people get their innate human wiring needs met.

Recruitment and Hiring:

And let’s not forget about hiring new team members. Understanding human wiring helps you to increase your hiring efficacy. When you know the type of human wiring fits each job, you align people with jobs they enjoy doing. Check out Be A Hiring Hero: Match the Position That Plays to An Employee’s Strengths.

Company Culture:

Research suggests that the culture within a company plays a crucial role in determining its success or failure. However, the question arises: who is responsible for defining the company culture when it is unclear? The answer lies with both existing employees and new hires, as they collectively shape the culture through their behaviors and interactions.

Unfortunately, relying solely on observation to understand acceptable behavior within a company can be a hit-or-miss approach. This approach often leads to a revolving door of new hires, negatively impacting employee engagement and profitability. Recognizing this issue, we work with clients to not only intentionally identify key cultural alignment factors but also to understand the inherent traits of their teams.

Here’s an example of how one company realized the impact of their human wiring on the company’s culture and actively worked to change it. Check out Navigating Your Company’s Culture Conundrum: Who or What Determines the Path to Success and

Human Wiring: It Influences Your Company Culture More Than You Realize

Conflict Resolution and Communication:

Conflict is inevitable in any organization. Understanding what occurs as conflict and how to effectively communicate and mediate can disappear drama and lead to smoother conflict resolution processes. Here’s an added story on the Power of Tailored Communication.

 

Invitation to Transform Outcomes:

These are only a small fraction of organizational areas that are impacted by human wiring. If you are inspired to get deep insights into your own human wiring and learn fresh new ways to align your company’s work environment, join us for:

Wired to Win: Your Path to Passion, Purpose, and Prosperity

September 19-20, 2023 at Excellerate Associates located at:

Business Innovation Lab CoWorking & Conference Center, 38221 Plymouth Road, Suite 3, Livonia, MI 48150

Register prior to September 8 at https://www.excellerateassociates.com/wired-to-win.

Your human wiring assessment and a private Welcome Strategy Call is included.

Human Wiring: It Influences Your Company Culture More Than You Realize

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Human wiring refers to the innate, neurological tendencies and traits that are present in every individual. It’s no surprise, then, that human wiring has a significant impact on company culture, as it influences how employees interact with each other, how they approach their work, and how they respond to the environment they work in.

Specific ways in which human wiring can affect company culture include:

1. Communication

Different people have different communication styles and ways they process information, which can impact how they interact with others in the workplace. Some individuals may naturally prefer more direct communication, while others may require more diplomacy or tact. Understanding these differences at a level where you can deliver communication they way the other person wants to receive it can help build a more harmonious and effective workplace culture.

When a client known for his direct, authoritative communication style, went through human wiring awareness training, he was flabbergasted at how he occurred to others. He had no awareness that his direct style was causing stress for his team. When he understood the innate needs of his team members and with a few tweaks in the way he approached them made a difference in employee engagement and productivity. Instead of running away when he entered the room, the workplace environment became interactive and enjoyable.

2. Conflict Resolution

Human wiring influences the way individuals’ approach and resolve conflicts. Some individuals prefer a collaborative approach, while others are comfortable with confrontation. Using a confronting approach with someone who needs a collaborative approach is a recipe for a trip to your HR department. When you understand human wiring and use effective communication and conflict resolution tools, your team can actively participate in promoting a positive, productive and drama-free workplace culture.

When a colleague, who preferred a collaborative approach, mentioned that his boss would shoot down every idea he had, I suggested that he find out what was most important to his boss. With a few targeted questions, he was able to get to the heart of his boss’s viewpoint. Once he addressed each concern, his boss bought in to his latest idea.

3. Leadership Styles

Depending on human wiring, a leader may be more authoritarian or directive, while others may be more democratic or collaborative. Providing leaders with personal awareness training creates leaders who generate a more effective workplace environment.

For example, one of our clients has a leadership team that possess two common human wiring elements. Each senior leader has a high degree of autonomy and a high sense of urgency (impatient). With this mix of wiring, they are inclined to push themselves and others for immediate results, often creating unrealistic timeframes. Since their leaders naturally pushed (high urgency) for results, their staff found the greatest rewards came by delivering results quickly. However, rather than departments collaborating, people worked in silos making independent decisions to get results. This autonomous, results-driven leadership team found themselves operating in less-than-ideal productivity and profitability. There was often rework because decisions were made in silos, quickly, and without inter and intra-departmental collaboration.

My clients quickly realized the influence of their natural wiring in shaping the company culture. Once they raised awareness of their wiring’s influence on the company’s culture, we were able to set up leadership development tools, a cultural framework, and processes to align what they say their values are and demonstrate those values in action.

When you are clear on your key cultural alignment factors along with the impact of your team’s human wiring on the company environment, you get to the root of cultural alignment, team productivity, authentic and conscious leadership, and company performance.

Overall, understanding human wiring gives company leadership the tools to create a workplace culture that is supportive, productive, and positive for their employees. By valuing and leveraging the unique strengths and perspectives of each individual, companies can build a productive and resilient organization.

Mindful Leadership – The Power in Being Present

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In a survey of 2,000 employees, Bain & Company found that among 33 leadership traits — including creating compelling objectives, expressing ideas clearly, and being receptive to input — the ability to be mindfully present is the most essential leadership trait of all.

Recently, I was anything but present when visiting the local dollar store to pick up office supplies for my coworking and conference center. The glassware caught my eye and I carefully put them in the shopping cart. As I finished checking out, I grabbed the bags and gently picked them up making sure not to bump the bags while walking to my car. Once I got to my car, I paid special attention to lay the glasses in the back seat, got into my car, buckled my seatbelt, and then it dawned on me.

I was so focused on making sure not to break the fragile glasses and wasn’t fully present to the fact that I abandoned my shopping cart in line behind me. In that moment, I had one of those face palm moments realizing the impact it had on the people behind me.

We’ve all had that moment when we are completely oblivious to what’s happening around us, lose sight of the big picture, and think that if we only had more time, it would cure our being present.

As a leader, you might even think that you need to spend more time with your employees to engage them. The reality is, you could spend all the time in the world with them and still fail to be effective in engaging them especially if your mind is on another project, if you try to send an email while your team member is trying to talk to you, or preoccupied with the call you need to make to a customer.

If you’re consumed with other activities, leave the room to deal with an issue while your team member is talking, or you’re listening to respond when someone is talking (rather than actively listen), you’re not fully present. As a result, your team may feel unheard, may feel dismissed, and feel that you don’t care what they have to say.

Research also suggests that there’s a direct correlation between leaders’ mindfulness and the well-being and performance of their team. In other words, the more a leader is present with their team, the higher their performance.

Practicing Being Fully Present

As a leader, it’s your responsibility to show up and be present. There are a number of rituals or habits to become mindful with others. For example, when a person is talking and you feel yourself drifting, repeat in your head what they are saying word for word. It puts that inner voice on hold while you stay present with every word.

Practicing being fully present and actively listen with an open mind is a powerful way to solve issues and create new ideas. Many situations simply need an ear, not action.

Your team member often doesn’t need solutions, they need your full, undivided attention. Through your mindful presence, you become the space in which they process an issue without you stepping in to solve it or control the situation.

Merely being present can resolve the issue at hand. Mastering being present not only creates a space to resolve issues but also creates greater engagement and connection.

What are some of your tried and true ways you’ve stayed fully present?

Invitation

Understanding your own human wiring can make a significant difference in being fully present. If you want to learn ways to stay fully present, identify helpful ways to communicate your message, and implement new habits to be an effective leader, join us for:

Wired to Win: How Are You Hardwired?
Tuesday, December 13, 2022
8:30 am – 1 pm Eastern Time

Register today at: https://www.excellerateassociates.com/wired-to-win-101/

 

 

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