Leading with noise-reduction-headphones??

Months ago, in (yet another) thunderstorm we lost our electricity (again!) – and the electrical curtains we have up high started beeping, telling us they had lost connection. Well, that noise would stop a normal night’s good sleep, so we pulled out our noise-reduction headphones. They worked a treat for a good night’s sleep – just like they help with their main purpose of easing long-haul-double-flights to Denmark.

Having been totally cut off from the surroundings (audibly), made me fascinated the next morning: try noticing what we actually HEAR versus what is a reaction to impact.

For example, if you tip-toe up the stairs, I wouldn’t hear it through my blocking-out-sound-equipment. But if you stomped with power and thumping heels, even I still couldn’t HEAR you, I would sense the vibration in the floor and the possible agitation. It made me wonder: what else are we actually only HEARING – vs taking it in via a combination of our senses and emotions?

And how does this relate to your business, sales, and leadership?? We’re all cogs in a wheel – it’s all connected. Even if one department put on their mental noise-reduction-headphones and get on with things, their actions and decisions have an impact on the rest of the business – and we can’t just turn a sense (or a department) off – we must orchestrate the combination of senses and reactions.

And to take it further: how aware are you of the sense in your business ecosystem? What are you, the teams, suppliers, and clients seeing, hearing, noticing, feeling, saying? As you know, the spoken and written word is only a small part of the message we receive, the body language, tonality, and emotions have a much more powerful impact than we often give it credit for.

The same goes if we zoom in on your sales funnel, there is so much more than the actions and specific feedback of your leads playing a part: all our buying decisions are emotional, padded up with logic. Therefore, the right next step is most often found reading between the lines, using our experience combined with intuition.

So, this week, enjoy expanding your radar! Be aware of your and others’ senses and emotions and apply the insights to your business. Beneath the structures and processes, the business is like a sensing organism, constantly giving and receiving (said and unsaid) messages. But you won’t pick it up if you’ve mentally and emotionally put on the noise-reduction headphones. It may give you a good night’s sleep – but business headaches in weeks and years to come.