Understanding People

Simon Sinek once said ‘If you don’t understand people, you don’t understand business’ so to a large extent the degree to which we will succeed in business is predicated on the level to which we really understand people, and that can vary dramatically.

As a kid I was always an outsider. My dad had his own business, that made me different from other kids. Then he sent me away to a private school, so I lived in a council house and went to school with landed gentry. This meant I would get beaten up at school for being common but when I came home I would get beaten up for being a rich kid. I wasn’t very keen on fighting, or good at it, so understanding people was imperative just to survive.

When I entered the world of work I made very rapid progress and was managing Director at age 29. That meant that I had to learn how to lead and motivate people who were many years my senior and technically way more competent. I didn’t realise it at the time but I was on a very steep learning curve about people.

It wasn’t until years later that I validated what I had learned in the school of hard knocks with some excellent reading tuition and coaching.

I haven’t met anyone yet who would volunteer that they really are not good at understanding other people, but I constantly see evidence of it.

So the questions for this week are;

• For you, what circumstances have provided the imperative for you to develop a deep and accurate understanding of people?
• On a scale of 0 to 10 what level would you rate yourself?
• How would you justify that score? What is your evidence?
• What can you read, study, research, do to raise that score by 2 points?
• Who can you partner with?
• When will you do that?

If you need any help, reach out

Many successful business owners eventually hit a wall on growth and struggle to climb it alone. When you work with me you get a fresh perspective, a solid plan, and customised coaching so you can grow and scale your business safely and at speed.

To check whether I can help you on that journey https://calendly.com/iankinnery/canweworktogether