Expect a slight shift in perspective from your communication advisors
If you have people in your life who see things differently while holding the same goals and motivations, you are lucky. One of the big benefits of workplace relationships is seeing a problem from a different perspective. Indeed, the response of the person next to us often helps reframe our perceived problem as an opportunity: suddenly a postponed presentation is a chance to regroup and make a tighter argument on Slide 3. This is true generally, but in smaller firms and startups, seeking a wider view is essential. That’s because a smaller team may not include much diversity of experience or background.
Lenses that filter for opportunity
Lately, I’ve been relishing the collaborative partnerships we enter with clients.
It feels like a privilege to pick up our clients’ priorities and domain expertise as a set of lenses to look out into their industry niche and the wider world. Because we are writers, we always think about the rhetorical purposes in communication and the opportunities that pop up. So, we often come back to our clients with a slight shift from what they see. Often, we return with reframing that helps their objectives move forward.
For instance, in working with a language client, we used Google Alerts to locate articles that opened a dialogue into an area they had targeted for sharing their expertise via content creation. The resulting content we worked on together put the client into the ongoing conversation.
The cost/benefit of fitting the right lenses
It is costly to fit a partner with the right lenses.
I’m not talking about the fees involved—though good advisors are worth their fee. There is an emotional cost of sharing what is important to the work at hand (not to mention the work a year or two away). There is a cost to the vulnerability of saying your goals and dreams out loud. There is another cost of focus: to share priorities means getting down to the business of trimming back messaging to what is essential and communicating those priority messages to partners. That looks like focused time, time that is in short supply in a small firm or startup.
But there is also a benefit to this vulnerability and focus. When I was on the client side, explaining how our neurological devices helped patients would routinely be met with laudatory feedback from agency partners. On the consulting side, I can attest to the rise of enthusiasm and excitement that feeds a team in conversation about a product or service. That kind of enthusiasm powers a lot of good work.
The end game of better vision
Better, more informed conversations are one result of advisors who see what you see and more than you see. Strategic actions that garner excellent results are another result. The benefit of equipping partners with priorities and domain knowledge is communication that finally gets through to the right people.
Use our contact page to talk about getting a fresh perspective on your opportunities.
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