Christine Miles - The Art of the Nudge (E1418)

This podcast is sponsored by TalkSpace. May is Mental Health Awareness Month. In TalkSpace, the leading virtual therapy provider is telling everyone, let's face it, in therapy, by talking or texting with a supportive licensed therapist at TalkSpace, you can face whatever is holding you back, whether it's mental health symptoms, relationship drama, past trauma, bad habits, or another challenge that you need support to work through. It's easy to sign up. Just go to Talkspace.com and you'll be paired with a provider typically within 48 hours. And because you'll meet your Therapist online, you don't have to take time off work or arrange childcare. You'll meet on your schedule. Plus, TalkSpace is in-network with most major insurers, and most insured members have a $0 co-pay. Make your mental health a priority and start today. If you're not covered by insurance, get $80 off your first month with TalkSpace when you go to Talkspace.com and enter promo code S 80. That's SPA CE 80. To match with a licensed therapist today, go to Talkspace.com and enter promo code S80. Welcome to the Exit Coach Radio show, the show for baby boomer business owners who are looking for cutting edge information as they plan their 3 to 10 year business succession and exit. Every week we interview top professional advisors for. Their best tips, strategies, and precautions so you can be well planned. And don't miss our one minute exit coach tip of the day on exitcoachradio.com. And now here's your host, the exit coach Bill Black. Thanks so much for joining us. Welcome back. Uh, my next guest has been with us before. It was a very interesting conversation we had, and that's a reminder for me to tell you that you can go to our audio library at Exacoachradio.com and listen to hundreds and hundreds of interviews that have been compiled into 40 different topic file folders and look for Christine Miles. She's my next guest and look for her prior interview. Interesting, and we're going to talk about how CI Squared, her firm, is a leadership development and sales training company and how they help business owners to increase profits, reduce costs, increase employee satisfaction, customer satisfaction, and all of that leading to increased shareholder value. Christine, welcome back. Thanks for joining us again. Oh, thank you for having me, Bill. It was a lot of fun last time. We talked about your book, The Art of the Nudge. We talked about uh how people can unlock their hidden potential. I'm carrying around your book and reading it when I can and I'm really enjoying it. So, uh, I think it's a great read and I like, I love the title of it cause everybody needs a nudge every now and then. So, what, what, what should we talk about today, Christine? What's, what's on your mind? Well, you know, the book we last talked, I mean, we had been working on that for a while and uh we just released it, so I, I'm excited about it as we are and You know, I think that we, I'd like to start with, you know, the world's changed, you know, I'm, I'm in the category of getting close to the category of many of your listeners in terms of age and whether we like it or not. I think, you know, the world's changed. It's we see macro trends happening. The amount of technology obviously is a little bit staggering and the pace at which it's changing, and the baby boomers are no longer the largest cohort in the world. Now it's the millennials, and they like things a little differently, so. Those trends are leading to some pretty big effects, and my business partner and I have taken a look at over the last 3 years through our own kind of tipping point in our relationship what what the potential negative effects of things moving faster and people having shorter attention spans and shifting priorities and and what we need to do about that to make sure we're all still successful. Yeah, we talked about some of those some of those mega trends um last time but uh just to refresh our listeners' memory, um, let's talk about what some of those current trends are that you perceive in the world today that are impacting business. Yeah, well, as I was saying, you know, I think that we're all living with the change in pace of technology, but I don't know that we ever stopped to really pause to think about just how much and how fast it's coming at us, and, you know, in the sales world, you know, it's, it's, it's different now. It's, it's hard to get a meeting sometimes, you know, you're, you're talking to someone and you know things are moving along and then. They go dark because of these shifting priorities and the shorter attention spans and everybody just moving faster and again while the millennials haven't yet quite become the largest cohort in the workplace, it's getting close, and the way that they need and want information and to connect is also changing the way we do business. So we believe those things have some positive effects but also some negative effects. I mean, I don't. I feel like in some ways we're more disconnected than ever even though we have more connectivity available to us and that surrounds us. I mean, I, I tried to take a call the other day. I had my cell phone, my landline, and my computer up and we still missed each other. What's going on here? Right, right, right, right, and the and the other part of it is you just wonder, you know, how much is too much, um, I think we're, we're pressing those limits. I know, you know, I'm sure like many people I, I wake up in the morning and look at my email list and say I just got to clear the junk out so I can get to what's real and authentic and then you wonder from those how many of these are auto or automatic messages and how many are authentic real messages from somebody. Uh, who really needs me now I've heard something the other day and I want you to comment on this about, you know, the problem with email is that it puts us at the mercy of other people's priorities. Um, somebody has an urgent email and they expect an instant reply and we may not, you know, be in the right mode to respond to that right now and and that may create a conflict back with the person who wanted the information. You know, absolutely, and, and I think that in the absence of, I mean, contact with people that's more, you know, face to face or via phone where you really get a sense of somebody, you don't necessarily think about how they're communicating or what's going on in their world. We're only thinking about what's going on in ours and so, you know, that's part of how we, you know, work with leaders and salespeople to. Learn how to approach. I mean, we, we call it the art of the Nudge or what we refer to in, in short is called patton, and, uh, part of that is really meeting the other person where they are and looking to how you gather what's going on with them, their story, their style, their preferred modes of communication instead of just thinking about it in terms of how we want to communicate or what's a priority for us. And of course person to person. With baby boomers and millennials all out there in the same melting pot, you could have some very different structures you might have someone that doesn't even look at email or respond to and then others that just want a text message because the email channel is so clogged up so you develop an innovative, a framework, a communication framework as a result of all these trends. What are the core principles behind the Art of the nudge? Well, the, the first one may sound a little counterintuitive, um, which is, uh, we believe you need to slow down sometimes to actually speed things up. I'll liken it simply to, you know, I was an athlete, you know, if you want to get in shape, you gotta, you gotta really do the, the front end work, the the foundational work before you can play the game well, and I think that sometimes we're so used to things being instantaneous that we, we don't think about what, what do we need to put into it. Before we can really run at speed, so, so slowing down is, is part of it. And then our framework helps figure out how to do that, and I'll talk about that in just a second. But the reason we call it the Art of the nudge is because we believe nobody likes to be told what to do and, uh, telling somebody to make a change or do something to reach untapped potential doesn't necessarily work. I know I've tried it both personally and in my career and I've been least successful when I. the telling, but if you get buy in and you get people to opt in and realize that if we just nudge or what we say gently push somebody to to take an action, it can lead to remarkable things rather than these large scale changes. Gentle pushes and gentle nudges and um Now when you say slow down, yeah, that does sound counterintuitive when, when everything seems to be speeding up around us. You know, I had, I had an interesting thing the other day. I had a guy, I sent him an email and he's changed his profession. He used to be a financial guy and now he's a teacher, and he said, I'm taking an email holiday for the rest of July. And I, I thought to myself, how in the world can you do that? But, but he auto responded that I'm not gonna look, you know, and he's in that kind of a position where I guess he can do that because it's not, you know, but can you imagine somebody taking it sending somebody that you're working with an email and getting back to that kind of a response from them? Yeah, well, you know, I think it's kind of brilliant, and, and I think it's all about do we feel like we have the, the power to do that and certainly not everybody's going to be able to take that kind of a hiatus, but you know, we, we one of our clients is um Germantown Academy, and we work with the teachers they know they're salespeople and and you know they're, they're influencing, you know, the community, they're, they're influencing the students, the parents, and part of the uh. The leader that we work with, her mindset is you got to, you got to meet people where they are, and we, we just forget that we can kind of define what that is and, and she wants them just to challenge the status quo. I mean, why are we doing something? Are we doing it because we've always done it or are we doing it cause it still makes sense? So I think sometimes we continue the madness without even questioning. So, so that's really step one of a 5 step part of our process and framework which is called You know, know what you want and why that's that that's the end. We took a little liberty there, um, but, uh, if you don't know why you're doing something, it's a really hard to make a change and that's, that's the first part of slowing down. Why are we doing this? Why am I responding to things in an instant? Does my does my the the recipient expect that or is that just the expectation I put on myself? OK, so that's, that's step number one of a 5 step framework so know what you want and why. What what else what else can you tell? Yeah, if, if you don't wanna, if you don't know what you want to accomplish, think about any kind of. I believe we all have and we believe that we all have on top potential. I, I don't believe I'm utilizing all my potential. We know that the brain is more quantum now than mechanical based on technology and FMRI technology that we can study the brain live. We're only using a small part of it and, and we can really tap into that. But if you don't have a, a compelling reason or you're as a leader or a salesperson. If you're trying to inspire action, if you don't have a compelling reason, it's going to be very hard to convince others or yourself to make that change. So, so that's step one. The second step is really about understanding it, you know, there's, there's always a story being told. We, we live our lives and we remember our lives and story. I mean, think about your childhood. Do you remember the facts or do you remember the feelings? Of of your childhood and you know we think in stories we tell those stories around the kitchen table at holidays and we repeat them. Those are locked into our brains and those stories influence our actions whether that's organizationally or individually. So as a leader, as a person going out to try to work with a customer, you you need to understand the story that is being told. Um, and the story they're telling themselves, if you don't understand that, if you don't gather that first again, it's going to be very hard to shift and help them see the innovation that you have to offer or help, help your organization and your people to want to take action. So, so that's step two. Step 3 is really then about shifting that story, developing a story that empowers and ignites people's passion to take action. So. You know, why, why are we doing this? What are we currently telling ourselves and what's the change that we need to make or the nudge that we need to make? So if I can tell a story about why this is a different vision versus just telling people what to do, we know that people step into that story and they they're more inclined to act. It's kind of like uh the first story and and number 2 is, is to create an understanding of where we are and then the is the third story when you're shifting the story in step 3, why we're going where we are differently or or where we're headed. Exactly, yeah, we're working with a large technology company and they're making a huge shift in how they deliver technology to the organizations. And so if you're their customer and you've invested a lot of money in the current landscape, why do I want to make a shift to a huge innovation? So I better understand, you know, a, you know what's going on with them, what story that's going on in the organization, and then B, what's next and why do I even want to go there? Why do I want to make another huge investment? And if you don't have a compelling story about why this innovation can change the business outcomes and drive what they need rather than this is just a better technology, I, it's not, it's not very compelling. You know, that's a what instead of a Y. So story, that story, that story helps paint the picture of what's possible and helps people see what they can't see. If you don't understand the story being told, you'll miss the mark if you by developing that story. Cause you might tell them the wrong story, you know, if you don't first gather and really and really dig into that. OK, what's? Yeah, number 4 is, you know, tell it often, you know, I, I think, uh, we expect when we communicate something that one time is enough, and, uh. You know my background, I, I started my career early as a as a in home family therapist at the age of 22, and I, I learned, you know, my parents would say to me, I've tried everything. I've tried this and that, and I, you know, I was fortunately I was trained well and they said, you know, you try something until it works, not just once. And I think you know when we, we communicate as leaders, as salespeople we think once is enough and in fact, you know, people need to hear it often to believe and so it's about telling those stories that story that inspires others to act and doing it repeatedly. I, I had worked with an organization a few years ago where I was a consultant and I worked with from board down to, you know, individual contributors and the the CEO and the senior team, I was involved in those meetings where they had You know, all the initiative discussions and all the things they were rolling out and you know they talked about it 20-30 times as a group and then they'd roll it out to the organization and when I stopped being in those meetings I realized even more profoundly that the people that weren't in those meetings were hearing it once or twice. The the senior management team was sick of it because they had talked about 20 or 30 times, but not everybody hears it that often, and the more often you hear it, the more you get your arms around it. Makes sense. Makes sense. So you got to tell it enough times. Well, tell it one more time. Tell it one more time, right? Give it, give it as often as necessary, yes, and enough to inspire others to act, you know, so Lincoln was a great storyteller, you know, many military people, I mean, think about those, you know, even, even the ones that don't use it for good. The, the better the story, the more, the more buy in that people get, and that's how you, how you move people to action. And then, you know, the last step is, and again, I don't think we, this is the slow down to speed up part. I don't think sometimes we take enough time to evaluate progress or celebrate success in order to continue the nudge and adapt. And so it's about hitting that pause button and realizing, you know, how are we doing? I mean we had this in our own business, we made some efforts with a You know, marketing, and, you know, and we thought things were moving. They weren't moving fast enough and my business partner and I were going back and forth with our frustration and then we kind of went, Whoa, you know, we, we should have hit the pause button sooner and really evaluated our own success or failure and how we were doing. And the sooner and more often you do that, the more you're able to adjust. And again, we're running at speed, the world's going fast, and the idea of stopping to do that. I think it's hard for people to to to think that that's a good idea or it's worth that time, but it really is worth that investment. So there you have it. I mean, 55 steps in the framework of the art of the nudge. Know what you want and why, understand and be able to tell a story about where you are and another story about where you're headed. Tell it often and then evaluate and celebrate and probably a lather rinse repeat. Right, I mean, to start over again because once you're through the cycle now you're starting over again and can constantly upgrading and updating. Yeah, and you know, you need to know what those goals and those priorities are in your business, in your personal life. It can apply to either. And when you do, then what we try to help with is how, how can, how can you define the nudges that'll get you there. So I talked about that technology company that's going out and we've helped them. Build a story about why this innovation can change uh businesses and how it first changed their own business and now they can help it change the businesses of their customers. And so an example of a nudge is, you know, when we train the salespeople they first need to learn, you know, how to do it, which is what we do in our workshops. And then part of the required activities that we're doing with them in between the work we do is saying, hey, go out and gather the customer your customer's story, and there's, you know, 4 parts to a story a beginning, the struggle, the tipping point, and the ending of the new beginning. Get that story, put it in your CRM. And when you have all the story, you'll know then what story you need to develop because you'll have their why, you'll know what story they're telling themselves, and then you can develop a new story to help them shift into that innovation. Really great, great talking with you again, Christine, and again you have a book, The Art of the Nudge Unlocking your Hidden Potential. You can find that at www.thear oftheudge.com, and you do workshops for leaders and sales and marketing and customer service professionals, executive coaching and sales process development, and you can help people with disk and personality profiles. You can do so much for people. How do our listeners get in touch with you best? Well, they can certainly check out our website at square.net. They can contact me at cmis@cisquare.net and or by phone at 484-252-1593. So we'd welcome anybody that's interested in seeing how they can unlock their potential of themselves or their organization. It's always fun and fascinating to have you on, and I hope we'll get a chance to talk again very soon and maybe go deeper into some of these individual issues because, you know, we've just scratched the surface on this and it's really great, great information and again listeners, The Art of the Nudge, a great book you should all get it and great, great thing to give someone that you care about or that you're thinking about to help them understand what's going on in all this change in our world. Christine, thanks very much for joining us again. Thank you, Bill. I appreciate it. We're gonna take a short break. We'll be right back right after this, so please stay tuned. Business owners, if you came back from lunch and there was a resignation letter on your desk, which employee would you really, really not want it to be from? What are you doing to prevent this from happening? At Exit and Retirement Strategies, we design plans that attract, motivate, and retain key employees. For a free consultation, called Bill Black, the exit coach at 866-370-3774. Call today. Just thinking about what will happen to your business if you're gone keep you awake at night? Will you get the price you need from your business to carry you through retirement? The BEI Network of Exit Planning Professions is the world's leading advisor network with the power to help business owners transition out of business on their own timeline and terms. Ask your most trusted advisor to create a BEI plan for you, or visit us at exitplanning.com. That's exitplanning.com. Thank you for listening to Exit Coach Radio. This podcast is sponsored by TalkSpace. May is Mental Health Awareness Month, and TalkSpace, the leading virtual therapy provider is telling everyone, let's face it, in therapy by talking or texting with a supportive licensed therapist at TalkSpace, you can face whatever is holding you back, whether it's mental health symptoms, relationship drama, past trauma, bad habits, or another challenge that you need support to work through. It's easy to sign up. Just go to Talkspace.com and you'll be paired with a provider typically within 48 hours. And because you'll meet. Your therapist online, you don't have to take time off work or arrange childcare. You'll meet on your schedule. Plus, TalkSpace is in-network with most major insurers, and most insured members have a $0 co-pay. Make your mental health a priority and start today. If you're not covered by insurance, get $80 off your first month with TalkSpace when you go to Talkspace.com and enter promo code S space 80. That's SPA CE 80. To match with a licensed therapist today, go to Talkspace.com and enter promo code S80.