Mo asks Alisa Cohn: What’s your best advice for creating and closing more of the meaty business we all want?

• Alisa’s top tip is to think about your process of how you build relationships that eventually turn into business. Chances are you are great at one area of your process and other areas need work.
• Think about five different ways you can experiment and try something new for the piece of your process where you feel stuck.
• The first step is to identify the weak link by creating an environment of psychological safety. People are not going to share their weaknesses or mistakes unless they feel safe to do so. Once you know what to work on, it’s about trying new things and learning from the process. The more you try, the more tools and repertoire you have and knowledge about what does and doesn’t work.
• Many professionals work in an organization where it’s very difficult to admit fault. You can help create the right environment through a number of ways. This includes open body language and leaders disclosing their vulnerabilities first. The leader should model the openness and warmth that they want to see from their team.
• Share stories of failure and what you learned. By doing so you are showing that a skill like business development is a skill that can be learned.
• Leadership is an unnatural act. All of us have to learn how to do things, which at times feel counterintuitive to us, to be successful in the professional world.
• Ask questions that generate an honest conversation. For clients, ask for suggestions about what you can do better or mention an area where you’ve heard from others that you’re weak in and ask them for help on how you can improve. Asking good questions is a skill that permeates every aspect of being a high-end professional and senior leader.

Mentioned in this Episode:

GrowBIGPlaybook.com

alisacohn.com