Two Thoughts from Today (On Communication)

Hi friend! Happy Tuesday!

What just happened?? How on earth did a week go by just like that?

Ha! It’s like that sometimes, isn’t it?

Well, this last week was full, and I think my body is trying to let me know it didn’t appreciate the pace. But overall, 10/10 week with no complaints and a bunch of lessons learned and applied.

Also, thanks Teo for the shoutout at church… Appreciate the way you are always seeking to encourage and support people. Wouldn’t pick anyone else to be my closest wingman in business.

Two On Communication I received an email last night at 9 PM while sitting in my car at the local Walmart.

I never check them that late, but I was just sitting there, so I opened it.

In it was a message from a prospect essentially saying they needed to push everything out a month.

Not a huge deal, obviously always a bummer for business, but we’ll survive haha.

It was the contents of the message that stood out though, and it challenged me about communication.

See, they know that our service stack at Dovito is exactly what they need to launch this new product of theirs, and he said that very kindly.

But what he shared wasn’t a list of excuses as to why there is now a month’s delay in working with us (which btw, I will always tell anyone who works for me in sales, that this isn’t a big deal … our focus is ALWAYS on relationships and support, NOT transactions).

Instead, he listed out specifics that he and his team were behind in, how they were unable to maximize our time if we started now, and his action plan to move forward in working with us.

Context, respect, plan.

As both a business owner and also as a young man who is craving examples and lessons in how to lead better, this had an immediate and profound impact on me.

In a generation of excuse-makers, few are willing to share openly and honestly, mostly for fear of conflict, and also usually out of pride.

Last night, I was shown an example where someone had the maturity to look past the small transaction (seriously, it’s a small, but very meaningful project), communicate clearly & openly, and risk conflict all to maximize each team member’s time (my team and my own time included in that) and mitigate misunderstandings and future, detrimental missed-expectations.

I won’t lie, I was disappointed to see that gig get pushed out a month… it’s a fun one.

But, I quickly saw how it was an attempt to (1) communicate excellently and (2) value the time, talents, and understanding of all involved in the project.

And I also realized this: sometimes the hard call, that challenging conversation, the difficult question asked; can often be more of a blessing to the other party than anything else.

So yes, grace is required, I’m not endorsing harsh, almost too-direct conversations without consideration for the other person.

But it did challenge me to reflect on how I communicate in both personal and business relationships.

Am I providing value through honest communication, or am I self-protecting and as a result, causing greater, long-term harm?

So, to the prospect who emailed me late last night, if you ever see this email, thank you.

Thanks for the example you set!

Ok! I’m traveling for the next two weeks, and while I’ll still send these out, I have no idea which days they’ll land in your inbox.

So, the next two weeks will not be held tightly to the Tuesday send time - although I’m going to challenge myself still 🙃