Speak your Truth
Some people have trouble speaking the truth if they feel that it might hurt someone’s feelings. I have always been brutally honest. I often try and frame being straightforward with humor, which takes the edge off of it. While I try and frame my directness in a positive and constructive way, sometimes it shocks people. And yet, they always tell me they appreciate it.
I never think I am being direct, I am just being honest, which is really important to me. It’s the way I want people to treat me, that way I know where I stand. I have always felt like life is too short to beat around the bush, I like to just get to the point.
Real estate and relocation companies need to take a hard look at their business models at this moment in time. It is time to speak some truths and be bold. The pandemic has crippled business as we know it for the moment. We will get back on track in time, but we need to look forward and think about what we might do differently to never be ill prepared again and to evolve the industry. Maybe it’s time for a Renaissance. After all, as painful as it might be, we have learned lessons from every man made and natural disaster, pandemic, market correction and recession. While the changes may be subtle, we evolve and things are never exactly the way they were before. That’s not such a bad thing.
As I moved up the ladder in a big real estate company, I learned that the squeaky wheel gets the oil. If we didn’t speak up, we could be perceived as nonessential, even if we were stirring things up. I regularly questioned authority and challenged processes. It mostly worked, until it didn’t, when the leaders stopped caring about our opinions.
I’ve seen people in relocation who know their company should be changing or improving their procedures and programs, but they are often too fearful to speak up or too scared to make the changes themselves. My advice is to be true to yourself and speak your truth. I do understand that being truthful and being direct are too very different things, but clearly and bravely speaking your truth ensures your message is heard.
When I started thinking about starting my consulting business, I worried a bit about my habit of directness. I had to mentally prepare for difficult conversations with people who were paying me to guide them. If I wanted people to believe in me and trust me, I must speak the truth to them. Even though a company needed to hear what I recommended they change, could I deliver it in a way that would not offend them? Could I speak the truth? I hope these tips help you speak your truth.
How can we:
gain their trust? By being honest and truthful, but not offensive. Remember it’s their baby you are talking about. Show reverence, do what you say you are going to do and let your expertise do the talking. Trust has to be earned.
get their attention? Money talks. Run the numbers that your recommended changes will make, either through increased sales or market share or recruiting and retention.
get them past their own ego around their programs? People are proud of their companies and their people. They should be, but it doesn’t mean there isn’t room for improvement. Frame it in a way that shows them the benefit of the change.
get them unstuck from old ways of thinking? Give them real life examples of companies who didn’t adapt and grow. Show them the value of changing things up.
get them past focusing on expenses versus the potential revenue and profit? As they say, you have to spend money to make money. Setting up or evolving company generated business comes at a price, but the pay off is far greater than the short term set up costs.
get the decision makers all on one page? Find out who makes the decisions and clearly define what it will take to get them to move forward as a team. Make sure no one feels threatened by the initiative and that they are part of the change.
convince leaders to get started and stick to a timeline? The longer they take to make improvements, the longer it will be until they reap the benefits.
help them with resources? They may not have a big budget, but get creative and seek out affordable solutions.
motivate them? Sometimes change is hard, but when working with someone you trust, it is a lot less scary to make necessary changes. Help them become invested in the changes.
not come across threatening? We don’t want their job or to criticize them, we want to help them make their company better. If we can work with them to make a company deliver a richer customer experience, earn more revenue, get and retain more clients, then our job is done.
Speak the truth and trust will follow.
